Charming is not easy to quantify. George Clooney has it, but I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because Entertainment Tonight hangs on his every word, as though his Ocean’s Eleven crew subsidizes the show. We hear about him an awful lot for a guy who left a popular TV show only to occasionally make movie that banks well and wear his political agenda on his sleeve. In his latest project, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Clooney throws together a cast of friends together for a charming adventure.
Our tale is told through the eyes of Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor). Bob is a struggling journalist out to prove himself. Being the year 2003, he decides that his best course of action is to cover the war in Iraq. While on the outskirts of the country, Bob meets the legendary Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). Lyn presents himself as former “Jedi Warrior” of the New Earth Army, a top secret unit of psychics headed by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). Lyn reveals that he’s on a quest to find Bill, who has gone missing, and agrees to escort Bob into Iraq.
Kudos to Clooney for his magnificent high-voltage performance. Clooney successfully captures both the naïve and jaded solider, a man drawn into the army and turned believer in the impossible. Opposite Clooney, though briefly, Spacey turns in yet another winning performance as Hooper, a straight up jerk. Together, it’s a brief but comedic rivalry.
The Men Who Stare at Goats hits laughs through satire. At the very beginning titles read that we won’t believe just how much of it is true and many of the film’s events occur in a manner that seamlessly tie them to events we take as fact. We know that Reagan approved a Star Wars plan, and we know of reports of captives being tortured through the insistent playing of Barney & Friends. Despite sometimes serious consequences, first time director Grant Heslov (Oscar nominated producer of Good Night, and Good Luck) maintains a fun tone. Despite the poor timing of a barracks shooting sequence, I grinned throughout the movie. Many of the methods of the New Earth Army had me laughing, such as the sparkly-eye technique. It’s a Jedi mind trick for those who aren’t from Lucas’s far away galaxy, and does a great deal in raising the question, “how real is this?”
The anecdotal flashbacks revealed during the road trip are funny, clever, and tie the movie together with well-executed techniques such as freeze frames and minimal computer work. I enjoyed the inclusion of pop music and retrofitted costumes making the New Earth Army hippy-esque. It presents a change of pace, regardless of how truthful it may be, but in a way isn’t overtly political or offensive. Perhaps The Men Who Stare at Goats loses some steam toward the end, but take my word for it, it’s more fun than the title suggests. ***
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