November 15, 2007
The very impressive poster attracted me several months back. What a cast this movie has -- Redford. Streep. Cruise. Wow. I did not really know what movie was all about, but I simply had to watch it.
This movie is really a filmed debate on the current situation of the United States and its war on terror. I am very sure a lot of Americans would either love it or hate it depending on their political leanings. It is quite frank, even extreme, in both its left-wing and right-wing pronouncements. The script, with all its conflicting views and witty repartee, is amazing to hear, coming alive through the mouths of the impressive cast.
I liked this debate. In fact, I almost wanted to watch it again right there. I liked the intense interaction between jaded left-wing journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) and hotshot US Sen. Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise). The senator is convincing Roth to publicize a story of a new military strategy in attacking Afghanistan using smaller attack points. Meryl Streep, what more can I say. She is so natural. You actually forget there is a script. Her adlibs sound like actual adlibs. Tom Cruise is also very good. His personal charisma was needed to make his decidedly "more negative" character three-dimensional and real, and counter-balance a perceived left-leaning bias. I believe Cruise pulls off this difficult task very well indeed. Political content aside, the deceptively static conversation scenes involving these two characters is very vivid and alive, an undeniable acting master class.
The other debate involves Prof. Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) and his smart but delinquent student Todd Hayes (Andrew Garfield). The professor is convincing his student to take his studies seriously, and to take his talk one step further. The acting is also very natural. Robert Redford was so cool, and you believe that he is your favorite idealistic political science professor in college. Garfield, I have never seen before, I needed some time to get used to his fast talking style. But he holds his own. The conversation between them was very convincing in its arguments from both sides. The movie's enigmatic title was explained by Malley when he said, ""World War I. German soldiers wrote poems about the bravery of British Grunts. Admired them. Almost as much as they laughed at the British High Command who just wasted those same Grunts by the hundred-thousand. A German General wrote, 'Nowhere else have I seen such lions led by such lambs'."
As these debates were going on in Washington and California, respectively, two former students of Prof. Malley, Arian Finch and Ernie Rodriguez, are involved in the military operation launched by Sen. Irving. They have fallen from their aircraft when it was attacked by the enemy while flying over a mountain pass in Afghanistan. Both injured, the pair had to rely on their idealistic spirits, as the Taliban closes in on them.
I just realized after I watched that the critical feedback about this film had been negative. For me, I disagree with this consensus. Maybe being a non-American, I can be more detached from the sensitive subject matter. It is a good film. It makes the audience think. True, there are many questions presented by this movie, and no answers. The audience is challenged to contemplate on these matters and create their own stand. As American's policies invariably affect the world, even non-Americans should know the issues that surround the political situation in Washington DC. This film summarizes these conflicting issues very well.
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