Tom Cruise and Robert Redford, together with actors Andrew Garfield and Michael Peña were in Rome last night for the première of Lions for Lambs. Cruise arrived a good hour early to sign autographs for an ecstatic crowd of fans who had lined the red carpet. Inside the theatre the atmosphere was equally charged...this evening was clearly an event! On entering the Sala Santa Cecilia at the Auditorium the stars were met with rapturous applause, with Robert Redford in particular receiving a standing ovation and cheers.
Lions for Lambs, is an excellent, totally engrossing film which addresses head-on the foreign and domestic policy dilemmas facing the US today in a period of widespread anti-Americanism. Playing like a stage production, the action runs almost real time, touching on the moral responsibilities of politicians through an ambitious Republican Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) whom we see in conversation with Janine Roth (Meryl Streep), a TV journalist who is forced to admit to the uncomfortable responsibilities of the propagandist role of the press in recent years. This exchange is shown in contrast to the political apathy of the disaffected youth of America, through the dialogue between an idealistic university professor Dr. Malley (Robert Redford) and well-to-do but unmotivated student Todd (Andrew Garfield). The story that connects the two conversation pieces is that of Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Peña), two of Dr.Malley's students who are, at that very moment, fighting for their lives in Afghanistan. With all six leading actors, including newcomer Garfield, mesmerising, an excellent script and Redford's quiet direction, the film is a winner, and quite rightly received warm and prolonged applause as the credits rolled.
Lions for Lambs, is an excellent, totally engrossing film which addresses head-on the foreign and domestic policy dilemmas facing the US today in a period of widespread anti-Americanism. Playing like a stage production, the action runs almost real time, touching on the moral responsibilities of politicians through an ambitious Republican Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) whom we see in conversation with Janine Roth (Meryl Streep), a TV journalist who is forced to admit to the uncomfortable responsibilities of the propagandist role of the press in recent years. This exchange is shown in contrast to the political apathy of the disaffected youth of America, through the dialogue between an idealistic university professor Dr. Malley (Robert Redford) and well-to-do but unmotivated student Todd (Andrew Garfield). The story that connects the two conversation pieces is that of Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Peña), two of Dr.Malley's students who are, at that very moment, fighting for their lives in Afghanistan. With all six leading actors, including newcomer Garfield, mesmerising, an excellent script and Redford's quiet direction, the film is a winner, and quite rightly received warm and prolonged applause as the credits rolled.
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