November 2009
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The Men Who Stare at Goats (15)
Posted 4th November 2009

They say that truth is stranger than fiction. Well, whatever’s true in this tale sure is strange.

But exactly what is true and what might be embellished and what might be totally made up in The Men Who Stare at Goats is unclear and unexplained. You know what though, it’s probably best that way. Because for sure the US military were toying with the idea of “psychic soldiers” and that in itself is more than enough material to manufacture a crafty satire out of.

Loosely based on Jon Ronson’s same-titled non-fiction bestseller (in order to turn it into a movie, screenwriter Peter Straughan was forced to move away from “pure fact” and into a fictionalised series of events and characters), TMWSaG follows the exploits of small town reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor, plus passable American accent) who travels to Iraq in search of that elusive big story. There he crosses paths with “special” forces operative Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney) who claims he is part of an experimental US military unit that employs psychic powers in combat.

Tagging along with Lyn on his current mission, Bob learns all about the history of the “New Earth Army” and learns how to be a “Jedi Warrior” (and, yes, it is very weird hearing Clooney and McGregor talking about being a Jedi) whilst getting into untold scrapes with kidnappers, car bombs and clandestine training camps, constantly collating all the research and information and evidence he might ever need in order to write the biggest story of his life.

Clooney ownage - kee-yah!

One of those unique “one-of-a-kind” movies, TMWSaG is a weird hybrid of road trip, mismatched buddy comedy and political satire about a subject that’s almost too bizarre to believe. Black comedy that elicits wry smiles with occasional titters rather than laugh-out-loud bellows, it’s difficult to pin down just who this uncommercial farce is made for except for the filmmakers themselves and serious indie lovers. It’s certainly not those that keep chucking money the Scary / Superhero / Date / Disaster / Epic Movie way that’s for certain. That being said the more people that see this the better as it is quality filmmaking of the highest order with more to say about belief systems, politics, national security or sense of self than several Michael Moore documentaries or self-help seminars all jumbled together.

If you had to though, the closest you could come to describing what’s on show is would be Coen-esque quirky and clever comedy meets pseudo-provocative satire. Even though that’s not entirely on the money. What is, however, is actor-producer-director (and despite this being directed by his production company partner Grant Heslov, TMWSaG has Clooney’s quality fingerprints all over it) extraordinaire George Clooney who, quite unsurprisingly if you’ve seen the trailer, totally owns this movie.

In fact, you could say it wouldn’t be half as good without his combination of classic star quality and ability to act the fool (usually reserved for frequent collaborators the Brothers Coen) without ever over- or under-acting or becoming a pastiche of himself. It’s undoubted Coen-form he’s on here as well and his “warrior monk” Lyn Cassidy has to rate up there with his Dapper Dan man Ulysses Everett McGill for off-beat greatness (even if his tousled hippy hair in no way compares). He truly is Hollywood royalty and a cut-above-the-rest as he continues to mix up the blockbusters with the experimental at a rate that probably makes even buddy Soderbergh jealous.

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