Sunday, April 13, 2008

lions for lambs


i have been on a dvd marathon since last january. most of the films i have seen were rather forgettable but i have managed to acquire some new favorites. the latest dvd i have seen was, lions for lambs. i was anticipating this movie ever since i read about it in time or was it newsweek, i forgot my new diet has managed to make me forgetful these past couple of weeks. i kept coming back to the video store to inquire about when it would come out for sale or for rent. i don't subscribe to piracy so i have to wait and i haven't seen a movie at the cinema for more than a year except for "the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford", which i won invites to watch its advance screening. for a movie buff like me who used to watch a movie or two at the cinema weekly, watching movies at home has lured me for the sheer pleasure of having the remote to pause, rewind, and watch the entire movie again anytime i want to.

lions for lambs isn't quite as long as i had expected it to be. just a little bit over an hour and a half, which helps by the way because 26 minutes into the movie felt like an hour to me. it's not boring, the movie had that effect on me because the conversations in the movie were so packed with details i didn't want to miss every line. i watched the movie twice, that was how much i wanted to pay attention to this robert redford film. this movie is very apt and very timely. it successfully mixed the current state of american politics with the war they are fighting in afghanistan and iraq and how it transcends to other aspects of american life. of course just like any other movie more than that magazine article, what spurred my curiosity over this movie is the all star cast of meryl streep, tom cruise, and robert redford both starring and directing the film. it didn't do well on the box office despite those details and most critics giving it a b/c rating. i can't dispel that but i liked this film and i even have moments where i actually felt like what this film is saying is relevant and true and yes maybe it can only be just another hollywood film trying its best to be introspective of the current reality, but this is the best that hollywood has produced to mirror that introspection. this movie has a point and a message. my opinion is that americans are only nostalgic of the wars that they fought but they never want to be reminded that they currently fighting a war against terrorism right now. this maybe the reason why this movie wasn't as successful as it should be or it could be that i may be one of those few who didn't get bored through all the dialogue and i am alone in my opinion that this is worth watching. the reasoning is that it's worth the time because it is politically rousing.
after i watched the movie just like andrew garfield's character, todd hayes, right at the very end of the movie, i was left staring at the screen long after the credits has rolled. i was thinking, this movie made me think. after thinking, i watched it again, and i was able to feel what made me think in the first place. afterwards i can't help but wonder how many are like arian and ernest, the characters played by michael pena and derek luke. how brave they were while their politicians in washington were deciding their fate based on policies, while the media takes their stories as commodities to be sold to the public, and how most of us are just indifferent to the cause.

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