The Men Who
Stare At Goats
Starring:
Ewan
McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges
Running
time: 94 minutes
Year:
2009
Directed
By: Grant
Heslov
Written
By: Peter
Straughan
This is a review where I don't really know where to
start. For those of you that have seen this film will understand why as it is a
very strange experience. The film centres round the idea that the U.S Army set
up a separate unit that trained soldiers to fight with their minds rather than
weapons, in order to make an attempt at peace. This is apparently based on a
true story and I have to say it is so unbelievable it may well be true.
Clooney agrees to the journalist tagging along with
him into Iraq and McGregor heads on to a journey he will never quite be able to
explain. Their journey is due to Clooney believing he is on a top secret
mission and he begins to tell McGregor about it which ends up in many
flashbacks showing how this army unit came about. We see Jeff Bridges become a
hippy and force army officers to dance. We also get Kevin Spacey attempting to
guess an object inside a hidden box. The whole process of this seems ridiculous
and it really pokes fun at the army. The two continue their journey across the
Iraq desert, coming across many ludicrous hurdles that only a man who can kill
a goat with the power of his mind can jump over. The film generally is told in
flashbacks, which shows the rise and fall of two key characters as this new
found unit is developed.
The plot sounds crazy and by sure the film is. Much
of it is very funny and it mainly comes from people believing they can jump
through walls or that simply thinking someone won't shoot you is enough to stop
them from doing it - added on after this speech is the line, 'and then you stab
them in the neck with a nearby pen,' which completely defeats the purpose of
stopping the violence. This however works for this film as this is where the
dry humour comes from, the fact that these "Jedi Warriors" as Clooney
calls them, believe that they are in fact doing it all with their mind. This is
an absolute tribute to the writing as the dialogue is brilliant and the dry
humour delivered in ironic one liners really hits the spot.
A problem with the writing though is that there
isn't really much of a story to get yourself attached to. The first part of the
film is interesting and the middle section involving the mind techniques is
funny but the final third becomes a little dull and by this point I didn't
really care. The film worked better when it was told in flashbacks which
unfortunately meant there was no real story. The initial idea is intriguing but
I think, other than the dialogue, the writing really falls flat.
The actors are on top form though. Clooney is
brilliant as the best man in his business, and his scene where he stares at a
goat is great. Bridges is also at ease and brings humour and a life to his
role. Spacey is also on good form despite his short screen time. He is rather
menacing here and all because he can't master the mind technique. McGregor
drives the story from the beginning and his bewilderment as the story unravels
relates to the audiences reaction.
The film is a little disappointing and it is only
really the acting and dialogue that can gain positive reports. Some of the
lines for Clooney had me in stitches and the entire bizarreness will have you
baffled, however it doesn't help the film really being a disappointment. Some
of it is enjoyable and I wish that it would have been better.
2
/ 5
Next film to review: 12 ROUNDS
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