The Men Who Stare at Goats

Director: Grant Heslov
Cast: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Stephen Lang and Kevin Spacey
Releasing in cinemas: 4 March 2010
Rated: M

And the eyes have it

At the far end of the spectrum from The Hurt Locker this wacky comedy about psychic warriors in Iraq brings together the cast strength of the estimable George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Stephen Lang and Kevin Spacey. Given wildly funny moments and tag lines yet it’s a little uneven and misses being right on target especially in the later stages.

What we have here is supposed to have a grain of truth, according to a caption early in the film. That’s hard to swallow, although Peter Straughan’s script was inspired by journalist Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book concerning a top secret plan by the U.S. military to create battalion of psychic soldiers. It beggars belief, but stranger things happen - especially in the mysterious realms of international warfare.

As the Ronson figure we have Ann Arbor journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) in Kuwait meeting Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) posing as a contractor in the Middle East. Wilton wants to use Cassady to enter Iraq proving his worth to his estranged wife back home. Cassady claims to be member of an experimental U.S. military unit on a covert mission; revealing that he was in a training unit for psychic spies called Jedi Warriors, supposedly developing powers to read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, remote viewing, achieving invisibility, and killing goats by staring at them.

New Ager Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) founded this New Earth Army in the 80s with his star recruits (but rivals) Cassady and Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey). Django is keen to spread harmony by using psychic powers to overcome the enemy by convincing them to stop fighting. His hippie style is frowned upon by the top brass who prefer the aggressive approach of the "dark side" led by Larry Hooper, who aims to make mental killers out of the troops. Meanwhile back in the desert, Cassady and Wilton bungle their way into trouble when they are captured by renegade Iraqis.

As you might expect, the charismatic George Clooney (Up in the Air) does much to keep the laughs coming. He’s very good at this and we know how he loves conspiracy movies; so he’s right at home. His eye bulging attack on a goat is almost worth the price of a ticket alone. Ewan McGregor (Angels and Demons) provides an ideal partner to Clooney, putting in the yards as the reporter, making the character the most believable. Kevin Spacey (21) does cynical bad-ass Hooper with the dark zest he reserves for such roles. Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) is a natural as the new age whack job in full flight.

Director Grant Heslov, in his feature debut, has the good sense to keep the farce down to 90 minutes - an ideal running time. Heslov’s worked with Clooney on previous projects as co-writer and producer for Good Night, and Good Luck. Here he’s rather let down by the meandering script which loses steam in the last act. But mostly he punches his gags out to the audience with satisfying regularity and the weirdness of the story holds interest. Production values are good, with New Mexico standing in for Iraq.

For film buffs, they’ve thrown in a couple of in-jokes. References to the Jedi must bring an inner smile to Ewan McGregor, as he played a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also notice that Jeff Bridges has much in common with his character The Dude in the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski. George Clooney’s latest and most offbeat film may not win him awards with goat lovers, but thanks to the strong supporting cast it provides a pleasant level of quirky entertainment.

John Bale