The Men Who Stare At Goats - Film Review

George Clooney and Ewan McGregor Star in Fact-Based War Comedy

Nov 7, 2009

Given the talented cast, it's especially disappointing to consider that staring at goats could be more entertaining than watching this unfulfilling and disjointed movie.

While the absurdity of psychic spies and their madcap antics manages chuckles throughout the film, The Men Who Stare At Goats fails to hold the viewers attention from the lack of a dramatic story. Perhaps the film’s screenplay followed the non-fiction book it was based upon too closely.

In The Men Who Stare At Goats, Ewan McGregors’ main character faithfully narrates the author’s true-life adventure. The film adaptation would have been better served by enhancing the story and developing its characters.

Stranger Than Fiction, Is The Truth

Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a small-town newspaper journalist, is despondent over his wife leaving him for his one-armed editor. In an effort to distract himself from his heartache, the jilted husband decides to go to Iraq to report on the war.

Bob lacks the press credentials to be given immediate travel access to enter Iraq, so he must wait in Kuwait until they are granted. While sitting at a café, the dejected reporter notices a private contractor at a nearby table. Considering an interview maybe a good story angle, he introduces himself.

“Skip” (George Clooney) turns out to be Lyn Cassady. Cassady had been previously identified to him as an army-trained psychic by an eccentric individual Bob had interviewed for a article before leaving home. As Cassady is leaving soon for Iraq, Bob seizes the opportunity to both delve into Skip bizarre military background and get in to Iraq.

Remoting Viewing And The Art of Invisibility

While driving the desert road to Iraq, Cassady recounts his past top secret training as a selected member of the New Earth Army, and his subsequent involvement in psy-ops missions under Project Jedi. The New Earth Army was founded in the ‘80’s by Bill Djanjo (Jeff Bridges), who envisioned creating a force of peace, manned by his psychically-trained monk warriors.

Before he and Bob are kidnapped by indigenous criminals, Cassady divulges he’s been re-activated, and on a black ops mission to find his team’s missing leader, Djanjo. Bob and Cassady manage to escape their captors, and continue their journey.

Eventually, they find the covert prison camp for detainees that Djanjo, and his New Earth Army, has been running all along. Djanjo telepathically lured Cassady to the compound to aid him in his power struggle against nemesis Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey). The trio hatches a plan that results in lacing the super soldier’s powdered eggs with LSD, then releasing all the prisoners as well as an imprisoned herd of de-bleated goats.

Cassady and Djanjo fly off into the sunset, leaving Bob to pen a fantastic wartime satire exposing sparkly eyes and cloud bursting techniques. While the succeeding book might have been fascinating, the movie is surprisingly not. Nevertheless, Cassady’s character does bestow us with an insightful maxim, -“Find out what is your Destiny, and the River will carry you.”

The Cast and Crew of The Men Who Stare At Goats

The Men Who Stare At Goats stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.

Directed by Grant Heslov. Screenplay written by Peter Straughan, inspired by the international best-selling book, of the same title, by novelist and documentary filmmaker Jon Ronson. Cinematography by Academy award-winner Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood). Edited by Tatiana S. Riegel. Production design by Sharon Seymour.

Produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Paul Lister. Executive producers are Barbara A. Hall, James A. Holt, Alison Owen and David M. Thompson. U.S. theatrical release by Overture Films.

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