It’s a political drama about war as most critics say which opened in Germany on Thursday and the US on Friday.

Based on a screenplay written by Matthew Michael Carnahan who is familiar with the topic of conventional terrorism from his previous script for “The Kingdom”, the movie pictures Tom Cruise (Jasper Irving) as a slippery Republican senator whose greatest desire is to become president; Robert Redford as the idealistic college professor teaching political science and Meryl Streep (Janine Roth), winner of two Oscars and six Golden Globes, as the world weary journalist.

The action of the movie is divided into three plans of action all of them happening at the same time in different locations.

First of them is located at an unnamed West Coast university where Redford’s character confronts an apathetic student Andrew Garfield asking him why he has blown his class.

The second plan reveals Washington D.C. and senator Cruise who reveals a new war strategy to a TV journalist Streep, telling her: "You sold the war. Now help me sell the solution.” Her response to the new strategy is concluded in just one simple question: "What about looking at the past?"

And finally the third plan of action is taking place in Afghanistan where the new strategies arrive and where two soldiers Derek Luke and Michael Pena fight for their lives.

The movie merges from one story to another revealing Redford’s personal opinion about the American politics: media’s complicity in the current Middle East war, White House’s eagerness to win the war, the apathy of young people and politicians who have never been implicated in a war but are asking for supreme sacrifice from their military forces.

The consequences of the American politics of war in Afghanistan play a secondary plan in this movie. There is no character from Afghanistan, just shadows in the snow planning to kill the US soldiers.

71-year-old Redford is not at his first try to merge the politics with his work. He performed in “The Candidate” in 1972, followed by “All The President’s Men” in 1976 with Dustin Hoffman, the dramatic story of two Washington post reporters who unveiled the Watergate scandal that ended President Richard Nixon career at Washington.

"I'm always interested in the political scene. I have been since 1970, when I made ‘The Candidate,’ then ‘All the President's Men,’ then Quiz Show,” he said on a short interview with dpa. But he wanted to add: “this one is different, because this is about what is fundamentally unchanged. What are the conditions that lead us into these situations that we find ourselves in during McCarthy, during Watergate, during Iran-Contra, and here we are again. What is underneath it that creates this?”

Speaking about his movie on the night of its gala on Tuesday, Cruise wanted to clear the fact that politics is not one of his favorite subjects. However, having the chance to play with Redford and Streep was surely one of his greatest dreams. “I'm really proud to have made the films I've made. I guess I've never taken for granted the opportunities that I've had. This is a dream for me, truly it is," he said according to the USA Today.

US critics had opposite reactions on Friday when “Lions for Lambs” opened. Referring to its endless dialogues Variety magazine was not thrilled about "star-heavy discourse that uses a lot of words to say nothing new.”At the opposite side Hollywood Reporter praised Redford’s intentions: "Politicians, the media, educators, military commanders and a docile public all come under fire in a well-made movie that offers no answers but raises many important questions."