Thought to be a Lion, turned out to be a Lamb

In my opinion this movie is an example of Corporate Social
Responsibility of Hollywood towards their country and countrymen.
I have been watching these Hollywood movies since childhood and
they all have the same theme where Americans are always right and
they always win in the end be it against the enemy on earth or in
our galaxy and outer space.
This movie is an amalgamation of three different settings. The
political interview or rather discourse between a young (would-be
Prez candidate) gung-ho senator and senior journalist, a professor
trying to awaken the soul of his disillusioned student and a army
forward location in a third world country.
The senator has a typical all-American attitude of fighting the
enemy with “whatever it takes” but there are subtle moments where the character acknowledges that the great country went wrong in cases like Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq. But that does not mean that the troops will be called back home.
Media also plays equal roles in today’s world when it comes to
pushing and propagating political agendas and actions. Are they
also somewhere responsible for the way they have projected these
wars? There is a question of conscience and right or wrong on the
role of press. No one is winning the war, and lots of human lives
are being unnecessarily lost in these political interplays.
The few scenes of the war zone are ok though there are some
instances when the special effects look too unrefined especially
the Apache part. Anyway it is not a war movie but the politics
behind the wars.
The professor - student dialogues lack depth and leaves a lot to
be desired. The director has not been able to do much justice and
leaves the viewer unconvinced.
The star cast of the movie creates lot of interest and was the
main reason why I trotted to the movie hall - Tom Cruise as the
Senator, Meryl Streep as the Journalist and Robert Redford as the
Professor. The performance of each of these characters is
engaging. The weakest part of the movie is the storyline which
loses its punch after the interval.
This movie is replete with dialogues and is unlike many of the
recent loud graphic-loaded movies which are a must-see on giant
screens in the dolby digital environment of a movie hall. Dont
waste your money by going to a hall.
If you watch the movie closely then there is a scene where Meryl
Streep looks at a framed article in the senator’s chamber and then
there is a final scene of a news strip on TV. The interpretation
between the two is left to your imagination. Overall the movie
looks half-baked and amateurish. The story is always mightier then
the cast.
My verdict: Lion for Lambs is a DVD/ VCD Movie. Watch this movie in the cool confines of your home on a lazy day when you have nothing else to do.