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even the brightest go to war
Lions for Lambs
by rick grant    rickgrant01@comcast.net
B+ Rated R 88 min

      In this convoluted scenario, Lions for Lambs, director/producer Robert Redford portrays the voice of the screenwriter, Matthew Michael Carnahan, as Professor Stephen Malley. He is counseling a young student about his frequent absences from Malley’s political debate class. Malley sees great potential in this bright kid, who has copped an attitude of not taking his college time seriously. The premise involves Professor Malley’s advice to the kid not to waste his potential and, instead of whining about what’s wrong with our government, he should get involved to change the system from within.
      Thus begins Carnahan’s clever debate with himself about the justifications for the Iraq War versus the anti-war sentiment as espoused by media journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) who is invited to Senator Jasper Irving’s (Tom Cruise) office to get an exclusive story about a new strategy in Afghanistan. Roth smells a rat, veiled in Senator Irving’s revelation about the new reality in the War on Terrorism. She senses she is being used to spin Irving’s propaganda and further his chances to run for President.
      In this hypothetical debate, two of Professor Malley’s students, Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Pena) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke), used their debate presentation to reveal that they had enlisted in the Army. They felt they should serve their country as their obligation for living the good life in America. So, when they get through their training and become Army Rangers, viewers see their experience unfolding as a separate story arc, but related to Senator Irving’s new strategy of small units taking strategic high ground in Afghanistan. Rodriguez and Finch are part of a special forces squad being injected by helicopter onto a mountain top. But their intelligence is flawed and it’s a trap. The helicopter comes under heavy fire. Rodriguez and Finch fall out of the copter as it crash lands.
      The three elements of the story happen simultaneously, vacillating between each other. Carnahan’s script is like a play with the stage divided into three sections. Professor Malley is a Vietnam veteran who is not necessarily telling his students to serve in the Army, but he sees many spoiled rich kids in his class who have a slacker mentality. By debating the issues, Professor Malley hopes his students will see the real life applications of what they are learning.
      Carnahan’s opposing ideas are debated in the form of real happenings that relate to the real world. Clearly, to some of Professor Malley’s students, these debates are hypothetical in nature and not part of their beer-and-laughs reality. That is Professor Malley’s point. He aims to bring these matters into the light of day–apart from book learning–waking these bright minds up to the harsh reality of the world in which we live and struggle to survive.
      As the three story arcs close into an intersecting vector, any conclusions are left to the viewer to interpret. In other words, regardless of one’s views about the Iraq War, Carnahan has left the final solution up to the viewer. The movie is superbly crafted and thought-provoking. It will stimulate debate and discussion.

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