The Men Who Stare at Goats - 2 1/2 smiles

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a weird title for a weird movie. And if you like George Clooney and Jeff Bridges in goofy mode, then you’ll like this one more than I did. Not that I don’t like George Clooney and Jeff Bridges because I do. But this based-on-a-true-story-movie leaves a lot to be desired, the biggest problem being the weak narrative. In adapting Jon Ronson’s nonfiction book for a screenplay, Peter Straughan had to create a story (and an ineffective one at that) including Ewan McGregor’s character. For the first 45 minutes, the film is most interesting because it is content to play with the bizarre concept of a covert group of ‘psychic spies.’ Lyn Cassady (Clooney), an ex-Special Ops military officer, meets journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) in Kuwait. Cassady tells him about being a part of the ‘New Earth Army,’ a covert group led by Bill Django (Bridges), developing their psychic powers to become ‘Jedi warriors.’ Once we move beyond this amusing series of flashbacks, the movie gets less interesting.

There is one scene in the first half of the movie where Cassady demonstrates his psychic powers by staring at a goat and causing it to topple over. Producer Paul Lister explained that they tried using fainting goats, goats that are supposed to faint when scared. Unfortunately they didn’t faint, even with the loudest of noises. So director Grant Heslov was forced to digitize the goat. The ‘New Earth Army’ is based on the First Earth Battalion led by Jim Channon, a Vietnam veteran. He proposed that the military create a group that focused on the potential of the human mind and incorporated a lot of New Age elements. “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a comedy and there are some humorous moments, but it doesn’t leave a lasting impact. 10/28/09