Director – Robert Redford  
Screenplay – Matthew Carnahan  

Plot  

There are 4 plots running simultaneously in the movie. Plot 1 has a charasmitic Senator Jasper Irvinig(Tom Cruise) giving an exclusive interview to Senior Journalist Janine Roth(Meryl Streep) during which he is about to give a breaking news on United State’s new mission to attack Iran because of allegedly keeping nuclear weapons. Plot 2 has young students, Arian(Derek Luke) and Ernest(Michael Pana) getting highly inspired by their professor Dr Malley(Robert Redford) and deciding to join the army because they believe in fighting for getting their rights. This distraughts the professor as, ideally, he didnt want any of his students to join the army to fight for some other country in some far off land. Plot 3 has the same students in the snowy mountains of Afghanistan fighting for survival after a helicopter gets crashed in an air attack Plot 4 has Dr Malley trying to persuade young but disillusioned student Todd(Andrew Garfield) to do something substantial in life and concentrate on his studies. All the plots have a connection because when the helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, Jasper Irving is extremely concerned as the mission of the group is as extremely important for him.  

Critic’s Comments  

The movie is one of the few, thinking films, made in the recent years. This movie has one topic and 5 different view points and is more like a debate. And like a healthy debate, no sides are taken, there are good points, there are bad points and there are points where both the parties have a consent. Robert Redford’s direction along with Matthew Varnahan’s script is very good. The star cast does its job near perfectly. This movie is not your usual fare script with twists and turns or punchlines. This is an overall look at the complex world we are living and how United States - A world power has been reduced to a country run by corrupt politiicans, much like the so called third world countries. The strange thing for the movie is that it ends abrubtly. Most of Robert Redford’s movies have a long story line but because this is a , "thinking movie", it moves very fast and you stand awestruck when the movie ends suddenly. However, for a genuine movie buff who thrives for such movies(I know i do), this is a must watch. Based on the filming types of such films like Taking Sides.  

Psst -  

1) The movie’s budget was very low, considering the star cast involved. It costed only $35 million. Had the starcast been paid their normal fees, the budget would have been nearly $80 to $90 million.  

2) It was Tom Cruise’s long standing ambition to work for a movie directed by Redford.  

3) The scene where Meryl Streep takes a dig at Tom Cruise when stating that he was only 6 years old when she covered her first story for a college newspaperMeryl in 1968, was actually shot to make fun of the age difference between the 2 actors. Tom Cruise is indeed born in 1962 and Meryl was born in 1949. She would have been approximately 19 in real life had she been doing her first story for a journalism college.  

Quotes

1) "So said the man in the airconditioned room." 

2) " I have admitted my mistakes, when will you admit yours ?" 

3) "World War 1. German Soldiers wrote poems about the bravery of British Grunts. Admired them. Almost as much as they laughed at the British high command who just wasted those same grunts by the hundred-thousand. A german general wrote , Nowhere else have I seen such lions led by such lambs."

Oops-   

Couldnt notice any goofs.

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Revealed in detail
Best to watch with:	Spouse / Partner
Movie Genre:	Drama
Best part in the movie:	No Comment