Lions for lambs

Three different stories with three separate time zones are told simultaneously in the film Lions for lambs. Republican Senator Jasper Irving gives a one-on-one interview to a cynical veteran television reporter named Janine Roth. Irving details a strategy for victory in Afghanistan while Roth asks skeptical questions. Meanwhile professor Dr. Stephen Malley invites a promising student named Todd Hayes to his office for a talk. Hayes has been skipping class and Malley tries to re-engage him. Concurrently, a platoon of United States soldiers is airlifted to a location in the Afghan mountains to head off the Taliban.

These three separate events are linked at the very beginning of the film. Irving tells Roth that small groups have been sent into Afghanistan to resolve the deadlock. Meanwhile Malley tells his student a story about two former students he had. His former students both enlisted in the military. The mission they were sent on is the mission Senator Irving is telling Roth about. In this way all three stories are connected.

But why did Malley’s former students join the military? They both grew up in poor families and faced many challenges growing up. They had to work hard to get good grades so they could get a scholarship and attend college. They were the part of the American society that no one really cared about. They wanted to make USA a better place for everyone to live. But to do so they first had to engage people in their country’s foreign problems. They did not want to just sit back and do nothing.

Irving and Roth end their interview, Malley and Hayes end their talk and the soldiers end their lives. Roth wants to publish the story with a negative perception to Irving’s mission but is told to do the exact opposite by her boss. Hayes has clearly been affected by his teacher’s story and goes home thinking about it. The reporter, the student and the soldiers all have to make an important decision but we only get to see what the soldier’s decision is.

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I thought the film was okay entertainment. If you ask me I would probably recommend a different film. However, it does make you think about doing something special with your life. And that is not such a bad thing is it?

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Lions for lambs, trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_V6ulwA0KE