> The Men Who Stare At Goats
Director: Grant Heslov
Cast: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Lang, Waleed Zuaiter, Stephen Root
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
Frequently truth is stranger than fiction, but that is no excuse to lay on the weirdness.
The Men Who Stare At Goats (Rialto) is based on an experimental US military unit that was formed in the 1980s to harness psychic powers for army use.
It seems that the Russians started psychic experimentation because they thought the Americans were, which forced the Americans to start their own unit.
This movie cannot just start at the beginning - it has to give us a story within a story. The lead character and narrator is journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who stumbles upon the story of psychic soldiers when interviewing a local wacko for a colour piece.
It would have stayed there except that the American invasion of Iraq coincides with the break-up of his marriage.
Broken-hearted, he heads for the war zone and stumbles upon Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a soldier from the disbanded unit on a black ops mission. Bob tags along and amid their own chaotic adventures he narrates the strange history of what was termed the New Earth Army.
Mostly this is good nutty fun but it never manages to link up into a coherent story. If you are happy enough to laugh over military logic, this works. If you want something that adds up, you have to look elsewhere.
Best thing: Jeff Bridges in a secondary role reminds us why that Oscar was so overdue.
Worst thing: Ewan McGregor's American accent is wobblier than the goats.
See it with: Your third eye wide open. This is some serious new age mumbo jumbo.
- Reviewed by Christine Powley.
