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Bookmark this pageThe Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
Director: Grant Heslov
Movie review
From Time Out London
During the Bush era, it was pretty hard to make a military comedy. The armed forces tended to be presented as either noble or amoral but seldom as clowns. ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ is refreshing, then, for its knockabout approach to martial matters; its problems lie with its lackadaisical approach to narrative and structure.The film is a dramatised version of Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book about a small pocket of the US Army given licence to experiment with non-violent and paranormal approaches to conflict resolution. American journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) arrives in Kuwait in 2003 with a broken heart and something to prove. Stumbling upon Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), whom he recognises as having been involved in the so-called First Earth Battalion, he finds himself on what could well be a wild goose- (or goat-) chase inside post-Saddam Iraq. Meanwhile, he fills us in on the battalion’s history, from its instigation by Nam vet-turned-hippy visionary Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) to its undoing by bitter psy-op Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey).
There’s plenty to enjoy in the film’s outré set-pieces, insouciant tone and playful performances: Clooney keeps us guessing about Cassady’s abilities (and sanity) and Bridges gets to deliver lines like: ‘I’m your commanding officer and I’m ordering you to let out the dance!’ There’s also a running joke about Jedi warriors that bounces nicely off McGregor’s ‘Star Wars’ pedigree. But the film hedges its claims to veracity (‘more of this is true than you would believe’, indeed) and fails to make its characters or narrative dramatically compelling. The result feels less like a transcendental breakthrough than a bit of conjuring misdirection. Fun trick, though.
Author: Ben Walters
Time Out London Issue 2046: 5-11 November, 2009
User reviews of this film
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- trickydicky said...
- Posted on Feb 05 2010 00:49 Mind-numbingly dull. I hung on til the end, just because I think some of the cast make for good actors - I was wrong to do so, it was consistently dire throughout. No stars - it really was that bad.
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- Funnygirl said...
- Posted on Jan 28 2010 14:51 Hysterical film! had us all laughing out loud! think some people have taken it far too seriously! its not supposed to be a documentary!
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- Fabs said...
- Posted on Jan 23 2010 23:18 Can't understand the low rating.. IT'S A BRILLIANT MOVIE, the performances are great, the story is really funny and ewan macgregor as a jedi warrior is a brilliant idea. I've just got back from the cinema and it was APPLAUDED in the end, so go watch it and see for yourself... funny thing is I nearly didnt go to see it because of the low ratings, am never reading a review in my life again 8-)
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- drew said...
- Posted on Jan 18 2010 18:30 This film is a wandering lost soul looking for some funny lines in a half decent script.
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- bob bob said...
- Posted on Jan 16 2010 08:19 Don't kid yourselves folks this film just totally sux; big time let down. I wish Clooney and co had just died out there in the desert, the film sure had by then.
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- lauren pmt said...
- Posted on Jan 16 2010 08:15 The guy that edited the trailer should have MADE this movie, maybe it would have been worth watching to the end.
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- real katie said...
- Posted on Jan 16 2010 08:09 I applaud the trailer makers for condensing ALL the best parts of the movie into 2 minutes and making a very dull film appear to be funny - I'd rather listen to an Alastair Darling speech!!
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- violetta said...
- Posted on Jan 16 2010 08:04 OMG a huge waste of time and talent in a single film has rarely been achieved to this level of boredom.
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- katie said...
- Posted on Dec 29 2009 16:43 btw usman khawaja- way to go giving the plot basics away - you're meant to REVIEW not RETELL
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- katie said...
- Posted on Dec 29 2009 16:40 AWESOME film!! so funny!!! I agree with bob on this one - the cultural gap might be a cause for so many english people not understanding or even registering the humour. If you're offended by that -go see it and prove me wrong!
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- lauren said...
- Posted on Dec 07 2009 17:10 I loved this film! It was so refreshing to watch something original and not to be spoon fed reactions e.g. 'laugh here', 'this is a sad bit'. Finally a film that lets me work it out by myself and respects that I have a brain and will find what is beyond the brush strokes. If you don't want to exert any effort don't go to this film you won't understand it, otherwise- go see it!
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- bob said...
- Posted on Dec 07 2009 17:05 The people who have given this film a low rating haven't understood the humour, intertextuality and intelligence in the film. I've noticed people comment on it's 'low brow' humour- truth be told I suspect the humour went over their heads. Generally speaking this film was quite subtle- it doesn't have the flashy sort of humour found in Monty Python or Wooster and Jeeves. Perhaps it's a cultural gap- I've noticed that the English struggle with anything that's culturally different, often going so far as to say that there is no difference (and yes I am English too).
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- philmk said...
- Posted on Dec 02 2009 00:11 I don't understand why there were so many poor reviews for this film. I laughted alot. Ewan McGregor as a Jedi warrior was a clever idea to start with. Kevin Spacey was as sinister as ever. All the characters were barking mad - as were the wars - Vietnam and Iraq. Brilliant!
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- suze said...
- Posted on Nov 30 2009 16:31 Puzzled by the low reviews here.....I thought this was great! The humour was dry and very subtle - I was laughing most of the time! Go see it!
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- Kate said...
- Posted on Nov 30 2009 16:28 really enjoyed this film - very funy, relaxed and didn't try too hard. Good perfermances by all the actors. Would definitely recommend it!
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Cast & crew
Director: Grant Heslov
Cast: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: 15
Duration: 90 mins
UK Release: Nov 6 2009
US Release: Nov 6 2009
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