'Lions' a talky wake-up call for U.S.

It takes Robert Redford's "Lions for Lambs" 92 minutes to say what Spike Lee summed up in a single refrain from his 1989 masterpiece "Do the Right Thing" --"Wake up!"

Or what Buffalo Springfield said in their lyrics, "I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down!"

Be alert. Be skeptical. Be proactive. Got it, Bob!

So, if "Lions for Lambs" doesn't have much new to say, at least what it does say bears being repeated again and again until we heed the lessons of its characters who might not notice what's going down in time.

Matthew Michael Carnahan's screenplay comes in three parts: two-thirds "My Dinner With Andre," which he didn't write, and one-third "The Kingdom," which he did.

Part 1 takes place on a California college campus where a crusty professor named Malley (Redford) tries to save a brilliant slacker named Todd (British actor Andrew Garfield) from an easy life of wasted potential.

Part 2 occurs in Washington, D.C., where veteran reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep, recycling a younger version of legendary United Press International reporter Helen Thomas) gets an exclusive scoop from a rising Republican star, U.S. Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise).

Part 3 unfolds on a mountain in Afghanistan where two injured American soldiers -- former Malley students Arian Finch and Ernest Rodriguez (Derek Luke and Chicago's own Michael Pena) -- have become trapped in the snow while Taliban fighters slowly surround them.

The three separate stories occur simultaneously, and each concerns characters trying to beat the clock.

Malley has an hour to inspire Todd to throw away his cynicism and accept his challenge to improve the world.

"Socrates, Aristotle, Plato. If these guys can't fix things, what's Todd Hayes going to do?" the student asks. "Hey, I'm going to pay my taxes. I'll obey traffic laws."

"I was thinking of something bigger," Malley says.

In Washington, Irving has only an hour to convince Roth that the administration's "new" strategy will provide the American people with a win in the war. Meanwhile, Irving unleashes a scathing criticism of America's news media.

"What happened to you guys? When did you all become a wind sock that blows with the prevailing breeze?" he asks. "When did you start confusing majority opinion for the right opinion?"

When Roth brings up the media's "support" for the war in Iraq, Irving cuts her short. "Support? You guys sold it," he says. "We both put our fighting men at risk."

In Afghanistan, U.S. Cmdr. Wirey Pink (Peter Berg) has an hour to rescue Finch and Rodriguez before the Taliban seize them. Meanwhile, the lifelong friends do what they have always done -- watch out for each other.

Even with the military action segment, "Lions for Lambs" is unabashedly talky. Redford, hammering home the most overtly political movie he's ever directed, gooses the pace along and lets his hand-picked cast work their magic with Carnahan's smart, concise words that form convincing arguments on all sides of an issue.

Cruise, emanating his 6,000 mega-watt smile, creates a consummate pol in Irving, a slick, self-assured D.C. creature whose slithery praise for Roth rolls off his tongue with obvious purpose.

Streep perfectly captures a smart, veteran journalist who's been through this wind tunnel before, and constantly brandishes questions to prick at the fabric in the flag that the senator has wrapped around himself.

As Malley, Redford mixes patience and urgency in dealing with Garfield's Todd, a throwback to Redford's own Hubbel Gardner from "The Way We Were," another young man for whom things came too easy.

Would Redford have made a movie like "Lions for Lambs" 30 or 40 years ago? Probably not. Here, the clock isn't just ticking for the characters, but for a filmmaker who, at 71, is more acutely aware that his opportunities to slap a culture out of its PC-induced coma are numbered.

Redford has tried more subtle approaches in such films as "The Candidate," "All the President's Men" and even "Three Days of the Condor." Perhaps now, he figures that the only way to reach the public is with a jackhammer.

Wouldn't that be a shame if it turned out to be true?

"Lions for Lambs"

Three stars out of four

Opens today

Robert Redford as Stephen Malley

Meryl Streep as Janine Roth

Tom Cruise as Senator Jasper Irving

Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Produced by Robert Redford, Matthew Michael Carnahan, Andrew Hauptman and Tracy Falco. Directed by Robert Redford. An MGM release. Rated R (language). Running time: 92 minutes.