Lions for Lambs

Lions for Lambs is currently streaming in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy, and it earns its set pieces rather than just delivering them. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 837 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Meryl Streep is the obvious draw, but the supporting cast gives the action its context. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Amazon Prime Video.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Lions for Lambs is worth clearing space for. The set pieces are impressive, but it is the story underneath them that gives Lions for Lambs its staying power. 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. Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2007. The geography of every set piece in Lions for Lambs is legible, which is rarer in the genre than it should be. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

For viewers who want their entertainment to move fast and not waste a scene, Lions for Lambs respects your time. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Meryl Streep is the obvious draw, but the supporting cast gives the action the context it needs to land. The action holds up because the character work underneath it never lets up.