Scene Selection review of ’The Men Who Stare At Goats‘ by Alex Kartman
for MovieSet.com
George Clooney is blossoming into a great comedic actor (not including the dismal Batman and Robin, because that’s only funny because of how awful it is). His five most recent films, including two yet to be released, all are comedies in one form or another: “Leatherheads,” “Burn After Reading,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Up in the Air,” (not a total comedy, but he maintains his charm and whit in the trailers), and this past weekend’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” What is so amazing about Clooney is that three of the films are releasing between now and Christmas. Talk about a guy committed to acting. The flip side is that he had no other films released this year.
Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) and Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) in Overture Films’ THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS.
Anyways, back to getting on track instead of going on an awards season schedule rant; “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is based on a shockingly true story from the book by the same title. If you have yet to see a trailer or hear anything about the film, I would be surprised. Trailers and promotion littered television and the Internet over the past few weeks. The journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) embarks to tell the story of psychic warriors, as trained by the United States Army. Lyn Cassady (Clooney) is his connection to it all, sharing stories, techniques, and first hand encounters in the Iraq War. The title comes from a technique of killing goats by staring at them, but Cassady’s powers transcend far deeper into the human psyche, dealing with statistics and trances. That’s a very abstract plotline, that barely encompasses the friendship that wraps the story up, but I always intend to avoid spoilers.
Acting wise though, the two leads are brilliant. Clooney steals the show easily, even if he is the supporting character. He has perfected the paranoid spy, the role he previously played in “Burn After Reading,” but this time he has a meatier character with an even more absurd background. McGregor doesn’t completely have a believable American accent, but his character’s problems and plotline shadow that. At times the character is inconsistent, one moment acting childish and unintelligent and the next moment breeding his mind to be a “Jedi warrior.” The supporting cast excels also, mainly with Jeff Bridges returning to a different version of the Dude. He is a hippie Bill Django, enlisted into researching peaceful and psychic warfare. As the founder of the New Earth Army, he is hilarious at times as the baked Django, whose visions always are questionable. Also making praise worthy appearances are Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang as two of the Jedi recruits and trainees.
Jeff Bridges stars as Bill Django in Overture Films’ THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS.
One of the key things this film does is use other films as a jumping off point. There are references galore, the main one being a “Star Wars” reference. That in itself is so hilarious with McGregor being in the film. The friend I saw this with managed to make this a prequel to “Lost” through a minor character. (I say minor in terms of screen time) What these references and connections show is that culture and film build on what exists, making new entities that connect to everything else. It becomes increasingly more difficult to have seen every reference that the filmmakers put into a film. This film literate culture is fertile for great films like this one and I am excited for the future, especially if Hollywood recognizes that the public does not need to be spoon-fed every single studio film. I apologize for this weeks rant.
The film is not a laugh out loud comedy by any means. It has its hilarious moments, but it focuses more on a story than on jokes and slapstick. Clooney subtly brings in humor without going over the top, while Bridges goes all out most of the time. It is discouraging that the trailer gave away some of the best setups and comedy. The current trend of how much trailers spoil is irritating to the point that you really need to refrain from seeing any trailers to enjoy every film to the fullest.
“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is not a film for everyone, especially those wanting action, rolling on the floor hysteria, and a popcorn flick. It does provide a tight, neatly wrapped narrative that entertains throughout the feature.
Grade: A-
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