Silence of the Goats

Ok, I think I just spoiled the best joke in Men Who Stare at Goats, the new comedy that is in theatres now. It has a great cast, George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges. And having those guys on the screen is almost enough to carry this film without worrying too much about the plot or characters or a screenplay. Men Who Stare at Goats was directed by Clooney BFF Grant Heslov who wrote the screenplay for Good Night and Good Luck. That was a great movie. But Men Who Stare at Goats is Heslov's first time out as a director. Before this he has mostly been an actor and producer. The screenplay such as it is was written by Peter Straughan. Heslov should have written it. It is adapted from a "non-fiction" book by investigative reporter Jon Ronson. It's hard to know how much of Ronson's book is actually true, but the movie is a heavily fictionalized version of the book.

Ewan McGregor plays some version of Ronson in the movie, and Jeff Bridges plays a character based on Jim Channon who actually did write the First Earth Battalion Manual. In reality, it was never put into practice, but in Men Who Stare at Goats it is. Bridges trains a military outfit, including Clooney and Spacey, in New Age mumbo jumbo and also tries to build up their psychic abilities. This is where the title of the film comes in. Clooney is the best "goat starer." The fun really starts when McGregor runs into Clooney in Kuwait during the Iraq War. He tags along on Clooney's mission, which turns out to be using his talent for "Remote Viewing to find his former commander (Bridges) who has gone missing. Beyond this, there is not much point in relating the plot because it makes no sense.

There is some quite funny stuff in the movie. I like Ewan McGregor and I really like George Clooney and I love love love Jeff Bridges. Kevin Spacey, I used to like, but now not so much. He always seems to be just playing Kevin Spacey and not doing it very well. Men Who Stare at Goats is just the first part of the George Clooney full court press this fall including Fantastic Mr. Fox (voice only) and the film I am really waiting for, Up in Air where Clooney plays a million-mile frequent flier.

In Men Who Stare at Goats, Clooney is in his total wacko comedy character which is very amusing. There's a nice running gag concerning the fact that Clooney keeps crashing his car even though he is supposed to have clairvoyant powers. And the men in Bridges' outfit are referred to as Jedi. Ewan McGregor, you may remember, played Obi Wan Kenobi in the most recent Star Wars Trilogy, so they milk this joke for all it's worth. And it's funny the first two or three times. The rumor is that Heslov hired McGregor not knowing that he played Obi Wan. Mostly, the comedy in Men Who Stare at Goats is total slapstick. They get a lot of mileage out of people high on LSD doing goofy things. My favorite bit in Men Who Stare at Goats is "cloud bursting," where you stare at a cloud and make it disappear using your psychic powers. I've done this myself. It really works. Try it!