Reviews by Matt

Why do you go to movies?

I go, not just because I have two pages to fill every week, but to escape. There is a lot to worry about between politics, war, environmental crises, classes and the endless stream of general crap that happens everyday. I pay the ridiculous amount of a movie ticket, walk along the sticky floors and sit in seats that smell like old popcorn to get away from real life.

I do not go to get reminded of what I am trying to escape. I do not go to get preached to. I do not go to feel bad about myself. I do not go to want to better myself afterward. I do not go to see “Lions for Lambs”

The movie focuses on three different stories taking place over the course of 88 minuets (hence the running time). Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) is in a meeting with journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep). They discuss Irving’s new plan for the war in Afghanistan. The second focuses on soldiers Arian Finch (Derek Luke) and Ernest Rodriguez (Michel Peña) who are a part of the team that is implementing the new plan when they are shot at. Finch and Rodriguez fall out of the helicopter and are trapped on a snowy mountain as the Taliban move in. Lastly, at an unnamed California university, Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) is meeting with one of his students, Todd Haynes (Andrew Garfield). Todd has been missing class and Malley talks to him about two other students he had, Ernest Rodriguez and Arian Finch and the choices they made while in college.

Damn, do I hate being preached at. I hate it even more when it leads nowhere. I felt like I was at a political debate, not a movie. It does not point a finger at one group; it points a finger at everybody. That is right, we are all to blame for the war. Conservatives, Liberals, Professors, Students, Parents, Congress, Journalists, even your sweet 80-year-old grandmother. It is our fault and shame on you for being apathetic, enlisting, or agreeing with the war. Way to go America, you really messed up this time.

Were it not for Tom “I Heart Xenu” Cruise, there may have been a small chance I would have returned to my apartment and tried to better myself. Thankfully, I guess, the “ball o’ crazy” that is the poster boy of Scientology just makes me want to vomit. I used to like Cruise. He picked some great and memorable roles and always seemed to be a genuinely good guy. That changed the day he jumped on couch of the equally self-righteous Oprah followed quickly by declaring that he knew all there is to know about medicine because he read a few books. The man is a completely self-absorbed jackass.
I may not like Tom Cruise the man, but I do still respect Tom Cruise the actor. He may be a whack job, but he can still act and does it well. Just not here. What begins as a Senator defending the war on terror quickly becomes a crazy man talking in circles.

I expect more from Redford and Streep than what I got. They just sleep walk through the movie. These two are fantastic performers and have proved it over and over again. Why stoop to this? I can forgive actors who make bad movies. Hell, I even expect it from them after a long sting of great, Oscar worthy roles. Sometimes they need a vacation and pick a fun movie that may flop at the box office, but they really do not care. I can forgive that. What I cannot forgive is a movie like this. It is trying way to hard to be a serious Oscar contender and just becomes overly dramatic.

If there is one thing I hate more than a preachy movie, it is a pompous one. Get over yourself. The purpose of a movie is to entertain, not to guilt trip the viewer. If I wanted that I would have watched a propaganda film. At least then I would have know what I was getting in to.

4 out of 10
R, for some war violence and language
88 min