Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Lions for Lambs (2007) - Streep and Cruise's star powers save Redford's boring political drama

9/26/2018

Lions for Lambs (2007) - Streep and Cruise's star powers save Redford's boring political drama

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Three major Hollywood stars in dignified black and white stare at us on this poster to get us to go watch Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs

A college professor convinces a student to engage himself in the world. Two of his ex-students are killed on tour in Afghanistan. And a US senator is presenting the new military strategy for the war in the far-away Middle Eastern country to a journalist.

Lions for Lambs is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (State of Play (2009)) and co-produced and directed by Californian master Robert Redford (Ordinary People (1980)).
Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai (2003)) as the senator and Meryl Streep (Dark Matter (2007)) as the journalist are both good, and their performances and star power make up much of the reason to watch this otherwise boring political war drama, which feels overly constructed.

Related posts:

Robert Redford: Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe (actor)
All Is Lost (2013) - Chandor's Redford-lost-at-sea is compelling filmmaking (actor)
A Bridge Too Far (1977) or, Epic Shit Hits the Fan (actor)
The Sting (1973) or, Partners in Hoax (actor)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) or, Friendly Outlaws (actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 63.2 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.80 times the cost)
[Lions for Lambs premiered 18 October (New York) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in Washington DC, Virginia and in California, including Los Angeles, ending in January 2007. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Bee Movie and American Gangster and fellow new release Fred Claus, to a small 6.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed only 15 mil. $ (23.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 8.3 mil. $ (13.1 %) and Spain with 6.5 mil. $ (10.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal to its rating here. Redford returned with The Conspirator (2010). Streep returned in Mamma Mia! (2008), Cruise in Tropic Thunder (2008). Lions for Lambs is rotten at 26 % with a 4.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

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Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

9/26/2018

Lions for Lambs (2007) - Streep and Cruise's star powers save Redford's boring political drama

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