Cruise Flick is an Unfunny Ishtar

OVERCOOKED LAMB Cruise, Streep, Redford (Photo: Getty Images)

It looks like Tom Cruise's stint as the head of United Artists is off to a brutal start. Lions For Lambs, his new prestige film about students who join fighting in Afghanistan—directed by and co-starring Robert Redford—opens Friday, and early indications are it's going to be the biggest disaster in the careers of anyone involved.

The New York Post wrote last week about how the film's numbers are tracking low, and the initial reviews are scathing. Making matters worse for Cruise, the liberal politics of the film also reportedly doomed his movie/theme-park endeavor with Washington Redskins owner (and big-time Bush backer) Daniel Snyder.

If the reactions of advance-screening audiences are any indication, this movie is Redford's own personal Gigli (and Cruise's Battlefield Earth).