Compelling arguments, observations can’t save Redford’s ‘Lions for Lambs’

In theaters

LIONS FOR LAMBS, directed by Robert Redford, written by Matthew Michael Carnahan, 90 minutes, rated R.

The new Robert Redford movie, “Lions for Lambs,” is nothing if not nostalgic and well-intentioned, and that’s part of its problem.

It’s a thinking person’s war movie that’s frustrated by a lot of things – our national complacency on troubling domestic and foreign issues, the dark alleys into which our war efforts have taken us, the corruption of good journalism due to corporate influence, the ridiculous importance the media places on celebrity culture over real news – and it’s not going to take it any more, certainly not lying down.

In fact, it’s going to sit down in a comfortable leather chair and have a good discussion about it. Lots of good, heated discussions. That’ll show ’em!

Actually, it might have, particularly if the movie had wrapped its compelling arguments and observations about the state of the world and its problems around a movie that was equally as compelling.

Redford directs from Matthew Michael Carnahan’s script, and what he mines is a chatty film (sometimes in a good way) that cuts between three connected story lines.

The first involves Meryl Streep’s Janine Roth, a cable television news reporter with 40 years experience (“Do you have to say the number out loud?”) who has been invited into the office of Republican Sen. Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) to discuss a new military operation in Afghanistan, which he designed. What Irving offers Roth is an exclusive on the story, with full access to him as details emerge. Should she take the bait – sorry, should she write the story, which is laced with moral and ethical dilemmas – what she might be giving him in return is a greased pole into the White House.

Meanwhile, in a dull subplot, Redford himself plays the concerned professor Malley, who is trying to reach out to a bright student (Andrew Garfield) who has the potential to change the world if only he would tap into that potential. But since the student is like so many of today’s youth in that he has been struck with apathy, he doesn’t see the point, so Malley underscores it through a debate they share, and also through the example set by two of his former students.

Those students – Ernest (Michael Pena) and Arian (Derek Luke) – consume the movie’s third subplot, which finds them sandbagged in the mountains of Afghanistan thanks to Irving’s new operative, which leaves each in a grave situation, to say the least.

Working hard to bring all of these elements together, Redford grinds away. Carnahan’s labored script hampers him, but he does manage to generate interest in the scenes between Streep and Cruise, which are the movie at its most interesting – and not necessarily because of anything they’re saying. Since the script has a refrigerated, academic air that’s been strangled by rhetoric, it puts us on the outside of the movie, where we watch the real show unfolding here – who is upstaging whom? Streep or Cruise?

Since that’s the only surprise the movie offers, I’m leaving it for you.

Grade: C

On DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray disc

OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levine, 122 minutes, rated PG-13.

The last time Danny Ocean and his hip crew of bumbling crooks took to the screen, it was in 2004’s “Ocean’s Twelve,” a self-conscious, self-indulgent heist movie you watched from the sidelines, looking in at all the A-list celebrities having a grand time being A-list celebrities while you yourself were stuck having a C- time.

Now, in director Steven Soderbergh’s latest offering in the franchise, “Ocean’s Thirteen,” a renewed focus and sense of fun have returned to the proceedings. The movie begins with Elliott Gould’s Reuben Tishkoff getting screwed out of a major hotel-casino deal by Willy Banks (Al Pacino, a fine addition to the cast), who is set to open the Strip’s latest and most elaborate landmark in a matter of months.

Banks’ deceit is so great, it gives Tishkoff a heart attack, with Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his thieving friends (Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner and Bernie Mac among them) determined to right that wrong by nursing Tishkoff back to health.

To do so, they’ll need to best Banks at his own game – or, in this case, his games. With the help of Bellagio owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), they will devise a scheme that will allow them to rig every game at Banks’ hotel, with the idea being that if the man loses, say, half a billion dollars on opening night, Banks’ own bank will go belly up.

What ensues doesn’t have a lick of logic, but a good deal of it nevertheless is lively and fun – particularly in the interplay between Clooney and Pitt, who are so nicely paired and so comfortable completing each other’s sentences, you half expect their next project to be a sequel to “Maurice.” Better yet, the cast has come into its own this time. They’ve grown so comfortable with their roles, none works overtime to be hip, which is one reason “Ocean’s Twelve” felt so self-aware.

With such a large cast, few are given the opportunity to leave a lasting impression, though Ellen Barkin does come through as a fetching minx who is Banks’ second-in-command, and who is smitten by Damon in an amusing subplot. Outshining her is Vegas itself, which looks sexy and intoxicating beyond reason. With the lighting dimmed and the air cooled, everyone has the opportunity to look pretty here, even the unpretty, which is the point of Sin City – and, in the end, the movie itself.

Grade: B-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.