'Lions' and 'Lambs' and bores, oh my

Caught "Lions for Lambs" this week, and for a moment it seemed far better than the early, withering reviews. The film certainly is ambitious. Director/co-star Robert Redford takes three different story lines touching on war, peace and politics, and casts Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise as a journalist and senator, respectively. But Redford's noble project devolves into a series of speeches which does not a movie make. The screenwriter, who oddly enough also penned the more jingoistic actioner "The Kingdom," admits the film began as a stage play. It should have stayed in that medium, since on screen it sputters and stalls despite a brisk running time. I could dissect the "Lambs'" liberal bent for better and worse, but it simply doesn't work as a motion picture. As a college lecture, it has promise.
The film, according to press reports, is tracking poorly and will be lucky to make $10 million this weekend.