Lions for Lambs is directed by Robert Redford, and stars Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise. The musical score is composed by Mark Isham. ***

Lions For Lambs follows multiple stories in a contemporary world, which has been divided by the war effort overseas. One of the plots follows a Republican senator (Cruise) and his exploits involving a fiercely liberal media agent (Streep.) Another story takes place on the other side of the world, with the hotly-debated warring action already taking place - and the consequences it has on the soldiers involved, two of whom were former students of a college professor who fought in Vietnam (Redford), who is currently counseling a frat boy with potential in the field. ***

Lions for Lambs is a well-intentioned film, but as a whole the experience just falls flat. There are too many plot lines and characters, and despite some entertaining chemistry between different groups and personas, the film just never seems to really get off the ground. What we have here is 90 minutes that, more or less, consists of three unfinished movies. Had Redford taken each of these convoluted plotlines, and made them into their own respective films, there is no doubt that this could have been a superior picture. ***

Before I get too critical, there is one aspect of the film that does deserve praise - the performances. Although the material being worked with here is lackluster, incomplete, and often fails to go anywhere or accomplish anything, these stars give some of their finest performances. The chemistry between Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep in various scenes of the film is incredible - Redford could have made an entire film out of this story alone! Also noteworthy is Redford himself, who plays the college professor. ***

This reviewer wanted to like Lions for Lambs, but there are just too many issues that bog the experience down. It's a classic example of “so many stories, so little time.” 90 minutes is not adequate time enough to cover all of the subplots the movie brings up. These would have worked well as stand-alone, 90-minute in-their-own-right movies, but condensed like this and unfinished, things just don't work. ***

And then there's the subject matter itself…. This whole thing about doing movies based on the Iraq war, it needs to end. There are just too many movies out there today that cover this subject, and at the end of the day it's a hit and miss assortment. Lions for Lambs, despite its strong cast and performances, falls into the “miss” category. ---

Image And Sound:

This is a good transfer. The anamorphic widescreen picture has a lot of detail, and there are rarely any moments of blemishes or grain in the image. Sound quality fares well, it too having no major issues. ---

Outside of the obligatory trailers and such, there aren't a whole lot of features here. We get a feature-length commentary with Redford, and it's definitely the most compelling thing on here. If you were a fan of the movie, you won't want to pass up watching it with this commentary track. Also included is a 20 minute making-of featurette, and while definitely worth checking out if you're a fan, it's more or less the same “making of” stuff you'd expect on any recent film released on DVD. The last extra is the “script to screen” feature, which runs about half that length. Regretfully, a lot of the material is recycled from the longer featurette. The features on here are good if you're a fan, but you will want more.

Final Words: