This film stands out for me as an intellectually stimulating piece of work. The three threads running throughout the narratives are cleverly intertwined. It is certainly thought provoking and encourages debate. Yet the main problem is the lengthy script that sometimes the actors grapple with. The young Todd is too smug and becomes increasingly irksome. He should be the person who we imagine will come out on the right side because of this meaningful talk his teacher gives him,yet his arrogance is overwhelming. The parallels between him and Streep are carefully created, she seems to become more like this youth in her anti political rant she embarks on back in the editors office and seems to reflect Todd's views. The role for Cruise is excellent, his cheesy demeanour suits this character to the ground and it is easy to see how comfortably he has adapted this persona. The dialogue gets a little tarded between these two, yet Streep holds her own thoughout and makes it an engaging two person scene. Of course the entire story pulls at the heartstrings with the fate of the ambitious fighters. At the same time there is less action and more talking in this film. The two person scenes are sometimes hard to take, especially Todd as his irritating smugness grows. He's too American for his own good. Yet this is still a good get to action whatever your beliefs movie!