The Men Who Stare at Goats ***

George Clooney meets goat in screwball comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats.

 

Good actors. Ba-a-a-a-d movie. The consensus on first-time director Grant Heslov’s screwball comedy The Men Who Stare at Goats is: see it for the acting. Fans of George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor, take note.

The spoof’s helter skelter script and direction will leave viewers puzzled. Add psychic powers and LSD to the mix for even more confusion. The Men Who Stare at Goats satirizes the U.S. Army, war and new age ideas.

Still there are many laugh aloud moments. Bridges plays Bill Django, a Vietnam veteran turned hippie. After being shot in battle, Django returns home and establishes the New Earth Army, a secret paranormal unit. In a hilarious sequence, he soaks nude with his hot tub buddies, free dances and receives colon hydrotherapy.

Django trains soldiers to develop their psychic powers in order to overcome the enemy. In flashbacks we see a mop-haired Clooney as Django’s star pupil, and Spacey as envious rival.

“I like movies that are surprising,” Bridges said in an interview posted on NCM. He considers Heslov to be a filmmaker “with fresh ideas.”

Clooney melds drama, humor and inner growth as Lyn Cassady, a warrior monk who’s just been reactivated. Cassady seeks to make amends because he misused his powers once to destroy a goat. Clooney’s recent comedy offerings include O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Up in the Air.

Spacey is marvelous as Larry Hooper, a dark wizard who owns a lucrative psy ops company. His only ideal is profit. Similar roles for Spacey include Lester Burnham in American Beauty and Lex Luthor in Superman Returns.

McGregor as journalist Bob Wilton delivers frequent, distracting voiceovers. Still McGregor gives his comic best, especially during his trek through the Iraqi desert with the zany Cassady.

“More of this is true than you would believe” is the film’s opening line. According to published reports, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency study parapsychology.

The Men Who Stare at Goats will amuse and disappoint many. Enjoy, and don’t expect it to make much sense.

 

The Men Who Stare at Goats   2009 / R / 1 hr, 33 min

Cast Overview: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Robert Patrick, Stephen Lang, Stephen Root

Director: Grant Heslov

Genres: Comedy, Screwball Comedy