Lions for Lambs

2007

Lions for Lambs

Critics Consensus

Despite its powerhouse cast, Lions for Lambs feels like a disjointed series of lectures, rather than a sharp narrative, and ends up falling flat.

27%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 182

47%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 210,509

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Movie Info

Two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian and Ernest, follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley, and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student, who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving, is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates. As arguments, memories and bullets fly, the three stories are woven ever more tightly together, revealing how each of these Americans has a profound impact on each other and the world.
  • Rating:
    R (for some war violence and language)
  • Genre:
    Drama
  • Directed By:
    Robert Redford
  • Written By:
    Matthew Michael Carnahan
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $14,971,658
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    MGM

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Cast

Robert Redford
as Professor Stephen Malley
Meryl Streep
as Janine Roth
Tom Cruise
as Senator Japser Irving
Michael Peña
as Ernest Rodriguez
Andrew Garfield
as Todd Hayes
Derek Luke
as Arian Finch
Kevin Dunn
as Howard
Peter Berg
as Lt. Col. Falco
John Brently Reynolds
as Skinny
Christopher Carley
Larry Bates
as Soldier
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News & Interviews for Lions for Lambs

RT on DVD: There Will Be Blood Drinks Lions for Lambs, Dewey Cox‘s Milkshakes
Robert Redford Taking A Walk in the Woods
Weinsteins Sign Interim Agreement with WGA
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Critic Reviews for Lions for Lambs

All Critics (182) | Top Critics (50)

View All Critic Reviews (182)

Audience Reviews for Lions for Lambs

  • Oct 25, 2015
    This film is so bullshit, and in hindsight, is completely wrong on a lot of points...things that have actually been proven over time. I just don't like how this film thinks it's the greatest...this film is so fucking narcissistic, so pretentious, it's hard to even watch at times. I've never seen a film that's so fucking in love with itself. This movie has about as much subtlety as Starship Troopers, but it thinks it's being Citizen Kane with the messages it sends. Fuck this movie. It could've been so much better, but instead it's just a pile of shit.
    Stephen S Super Reviewer
  • Apr 07, 2013
    Robert Redford's liberal propaganda film Lions for Lambs is a cynical and heavy handed look at the War on Terror. An opportunistic Republican senator launches a new offensive in Afghanistan and offers a reporter an exclusive; meanwhile a college professor recounts the loss of two promising students who joined the military and are now part of the senator's offensive. The cast, which includes Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, and Meryl Streep, deliver strong performances. However, the film's intellectually dishonest, and is only interested in vindicating the liberal perspective. Lions for Lambs explores some controversial topics, but its politics get in the way.
    Dann M Super Reviewer
  • Feb 07, 2011
    I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Separate stories connected by a common theme telling a story from different perspectives made the movie relevant to political discussions about American policies and ideas of war. The movie also does the best job showing the price of war with the great lives sacrificed often for unjust reasons.
    Thomas J Super Reviewer
  • Aug 22, 2010
    A film about the connection between a platoon of United States soldiers in Afghanistan, a U.S. senator, a reporter, and a California college professor. It stars Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Robert Redford. It was the first Cruise/Wagner Productions film since the company joined with United Artists subsequent to Cruise's falling out with Paramount Pictures in 2006. With a title that alludes to incompetent leaders sending brave soldiers into the slaughter of battle, the film takes aim at the U.S. government's prosecution of the wars in the Middle East, showing three different simultaneous stories: a senator who launches a new military strategy and details it to a journalist on the edge of a mental breakdown, two soldiers involved in said operation, and their college professor trying to re-engage a promising student. Inexpressive and boring.Forget it.
    Andre T Super Reviewer
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