Three stories told simultaneously in ninety minutes of real time: a Republican Senator who's a presidential hopeful gives an hour-long interview to a skeptical television reporter, detailing a strategy for victory in Afghanistan; two special forces ambushed on an Afghani ridge await rescue as Taliban forces close in; a poli-sci professor at a California college invites a student to re-engage.
There is much talk of paralysis in Robert Redford's what's-wrong-with-America movie Lions for Lambs, and there is a whole lot of the same in the movie itself.
– Geoff Pevere,
Toronto Star,
9 Nov 2007
fresh:
It's definitely flawed but I am recommending it.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
12 Nov 2007
rotten:
The film is built not upon characters and plot but upon ideas. That would be fine if the ideas were revolutionary or interesting, but they're fairly commonplace.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
17 Nov 2007
fresh:
It means to use the Cruise-Redford-Streep star power to get us talking about things we ought to be talking about.
– Jonathan F. Richards,
Film.com,
19 Nov 2007
rotten:
Less a war drama than a set of dueling position papers.