Where Do We Go From Here

Much like in the lot of this fall’s political thrillers, connection among characters seems to be the key element in Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs, a film that follows, over a tense hour, the loosely intertwined lives of a disengaged college student, a liberal political science professor, a journalist, a Republican senator, and two soldiers on a mission in Afghanistan.

I say “seems” because, really, the key of the film lies in the urgency of time as a plot device, and in the duel-like dialogue screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan has written for an A-List cast headlined by Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise.

Every idea shared in Lions for Lambs is worth follow-up discussion once the credits roll.

The film takes to task everyone, from the administration to the media to you and me – and it does so smartly by showing us the many sides of a very complex problem.

In a Southern California college campus, Redford’s idealistic Dr. Stephen Malley is trying to wake one of his students up by telling him about “the last two kids I had who gave me hope” (Michael Peña and Derek Luke), who decided it was time they redefined their lives and enlisted to go to war when they could have easily not done so. Across the country, in Washington, D.C., Streep’s Janine Roth is meeting with Cruise’s Sen. Jasper Irving, whom she once called the future of his party, for an exclusive interview he calls her opportunity “to write an honest to God story again.” And in Afghanistan, Dr. Malley’s former students-turned soldiers, Ernest and Arian, are fighting for survival after their chopper is shut down in the middle of an operation that’s part of a new plan of attack.

While in Italy for the debut of Lions for Lambs earlier this season, Redford spoke out about the United States’ current involvement in overseas affairs, saying, “For me, the film is about the effect and the consequences of the last several years in my country, and how that plays out in the area of the media, education, and politics.”

In the film, Sen. Irving tells Janine Roth the media “have already sold the war. Now I’m asking you to help me sell the solution.” Dr. Malley tells his student (Andrew Garfield) that “[politicians] bank on your apathy, they plan strategies around it.” And throughout the length of it, Ernest and Arian tell everyone, including the audience, that we all have the power to make a difference.

The film is a clear and present challenge, best exemplified by Sen. Irving’s posit to Janine Roth: “Do you want to win the war on terror? Yes or no? Yes or no.”

That is, indeed, the quintessential yes-or-no question our time.

So much time is wasted debating the reasons the country went to war and surprisingly, not mourning or taking care of our soldiers, when it is, in fact, about time we all got behind it the best we can – with ideas, with support, with action – so we can get out of it at long last. “Never have I seen such lions led by such lambs,” Dr. Malley’s quotes to his student.

We’ve all been put at risk – and we’re doing little to nothing to make it better. We are all connected, so where do we go from here?

My Rating ****

Photo: United Artists.