Movie Review - Lions for Lambs

This is one time I have to agree with the critics. This movie looks like a stage play and plays like a policy debate. Though the films provokes thought and the characters make some strong points, the film feels preachy and falls flat as entertainment. We only gave it 1-1/2 Stars.
DESCRIPTION: Two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley (Robert Redford), and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. As Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student (Andrew Garfield) who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. In Washington D.C., presidential hopeful Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist (Meryl Streep) that may affect Arian and Ernest’s fates. The three stories are woven tightly together, revealing how each of these Americans has a profound impact on each other and the world.