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Set in 2003, Ewan McGregor stars as Bob Wilton - a reporter in Ann Arbor who wants to shake up his life after his marriage takes a turn for the worst, and he starts to question the decisions he has made. To prove something to himself and his estranged wife, Bob decides to become a war reporter and heads off to Kuwait for a chance to cross the border into Iraq and see the action up close. Opportunity arises in the form of Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who Bob remembers from a previous story (who could forget George Clooney?).
Back in Ann Arbor, Bob met a strange guy who tried to convince him the Army in the 1980's was training a group of psychic spies who could fight wars with their minds, and the best of the bunch was Lyn. In this Kuwaiti bar, almost 20 years later, Bob runs into Lyn, who claims to be on a mission, and wants the young reporter to tag along.
What is Cassady's mission?
Does he truly have psychic powers?
Since this psychic warrior program in The Men Who Stare At Goats is called Project Jedi, I get the feeling McGregor was cast simply for all of the ensuing jokes. While he might be the lead in this movie, McGregor's just along for the ride as Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey get the audience wrapped up in one of the silliest and goofiest movies of the year.
Right from the beginning, as the audience is warned more of this story is true than you want to believe, director Gran Heslov and writer Peter Straughan (based on the book by Jon Ronson, which is a serious examination of these real military initiatives) make it clear we should be laughing at the absurdity of what is happening on screen, and Clooney is more than pleased to oblige.
He makes Cassady into the perfect embodiment of a soldier who has become burned out. Clooney's Cassady is world weary, has seen the kind of stuff you and I don't want to see, and had his spirit and optimism broken somewhere along the way as we watch this guy go from disillusioned to decent guy to true believer to a hardened and possibly insane brokenhearted man.
However, Clooney is not a sad sack in The Men Who Stare At Goats. Along with showing us Lyn's renewed spirit, he has the perfect goofy face as he uses his "mental powers". It's silly because Clooney makes us realize how seriously Cassady takes all of this and how much he believes it, because it changed his life.
Bridges joins in as Bill Django - a Vietnam vet who turned to New Age teachings to start Project Jedi. In a way, and I know millions of people will say this, Bridges plays Django like a sequel to The Dude in The Big Lebowski, which is why he is funny. He understands the absurd and revels in it. Then, Spacey shows up as our villain, and he is so nasty he should be twisting that mustache on his face, but he brings more realty to it than that, which keeps Spacey's character from becoming a cartoon.
Straughn provides fantastic dialogue as we get so many Jedi jokes we should be angry, but each one is so good, you want more. Plus, he tosses in enough conversations about conspiracy theories and espionage to make The X-Files feel like a documentary in comparison.
The Men Who Stare At Goats gets a bit too serious towards the end as Heslov and Straughn struggle to find a way to wrap it up, but it's still funnier than most movies these days.
3 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)
The Men Who Stare At Goats is rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity.
Back in Ann Arbor, Bob met a strange guy who tried to convince him the Army in the 1980's was training a group of psychic spies who could fight wars with their minds, and the best of the bunch was Lyn. In this Kuwaiti bar, almost 20 years later, Bob runs into Lyn, who claims to be on a mission, and wants the young reporter to tag along.
What is Cassady's mission?
Does he truly have psychic powers?
Since this psychic warrior program in The Men Who Stare At Goats is called Project Jedi, I get the feeling McGregor was cast simply for all of the ensuing jokes. While he might be the lead in this movie, McGregor's just along for the ride as Clooney, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey get the audience wrapped up in one of the silliest and goofiest movies of the year.
Right from the beginning, as the audience is warned more of this story is true than you want to believe, director Gran Heslov and writer Peter Straughan (based on the book by Jon Ronson, which is a serious examination of these real military initiatives) make it clear we should be laughing at the absurdity of what is happening on screen, and Clooney is more than pleased to oblige.
He makes Cassady into the perfect embodiment of a soldier who has become burned out. Clooney's Cassady is world weary, has seen the kind of stuff you and I don't want to see, and had his spirit and optimism broken somewhere along the way as we watch this guy go from disillusioned to decent guy to true believer to a hardened and possibly insane brokenhearted man.
However, Clooney is not a sad sack in The Men Who Stare At Goats. Along with showing us Lyn's renewed spirit, he has the perfect goofy face as he uses his "mental powers". It's silly because Clooney makes us realize how seriously Cassady takes all of this and how much he believes it, because it changed his life.
Bridges joins in as Bill Django - a Vietnam vet who turned to New Age teachings to start Project Jedi. In a way, and I know millions of people will say this, Bridges plays Django like a sequel to The Dude in The Big Lebowski, which is why he is funny. He understands the absurd and revels in it. Then, Spacey shows up as our villain, and he is so nasty he should be twisting that mustache on his face, but he brings more realty to it than that, which keeps Spacey's character from becoming a cartoon.
Straughn provides fantastic dialogue as we get so many Jedi jokes we should be angry, but each one is so good, you want more. Plus, he tosses in enough conversations about conspiracy theories and espionage to make The X-Files feel like a documentary in comparison.
The Men Who Stare At Goats gets a bit too serious towards the end as Heslov and Straughn struggle to find a way to wrap it up, but it's still funnier than most movies these days.
3 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)
The Men Who Stare At Goats is rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity.
