Movie review: The Men Who Stare At Goats

The Men Who Stare At Goats

3.5 of 5 stars

Lunatics like to watch movies, too, and the makers of “The Men Who Stare At Goats” understand that well. Alien abductees, telekinetic spoon-benders, time travelers and Blue Devils will find a lot to identify with in Grant Heslov’s inventively quirky farce of “sort-of true” events. It challenges the audience to take all this lunacy seriously.

Down-on-his-luck reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles upon a potential story once he meets Lyn Cassaday (George Clooney), a retired psychic spy for the U.S. military who has been reactivated (via telepathy, of course) to search for his longtime friend Bill Django (Jeff Bridges).

Bob’s journey is steered completely by Lyn’s ever-changing intuition. But the film’s chuckle-stirring performances, which blend the subtle eccentricities of maniacs with hilariously earnest dedication to the supernatural, let us forget about its aimless plot.

While McGregor’s turn as a victim-of-circumstance journalist humbly echoes a voice of reason for the audience, Clooney is a marvel as Lyn. Relying on the originality of Peter Straughan’s nuanced script, Clooney avoids cartoonish antics, espousing sincerity beyond the frequent offhandedness and the matter-of-fact references to paranormal phenomena.

And no one could have more naturally portrayed the bohemian spirit of psychic-warfare pioneer Lt. Django than Bridges, sporting “Lebowski”-esque charm by letting his whimsy creep into even the most dramatic scenes. All the while, he carries the aplomb of an all-knowing sage.

Bob recounts, “As Lyn drove on, I wondered what the hell I was doing.” So does the audience. With Lyn leading the way, Bob’s faith in Lyn’s abilities (which is not always clear) determines whether this adventure is worth our attention. Thus, the film spends so much time legitimizing Lyn in hilarious flashbacks that there is very little “movie” left to watch.

As the actors flawlessly embody well-written characters out of a script that goes nowhere, the film is no different than the goats it glorifies, humorously enchanting the audience with aimless buffoonery that indulges in the extraordinary.