cricketbat The Men Who Stare At Goats is an entertaining film as you're watching it, but, after it's over, you really don't know what to make of it all. Most of the time I spent wondering how much of it is based on actual events. This movie dances between sharp political satire and Coen-brothers-style farce. It doesn't really go anywhere, but the ride is fun.

Rameshwar IN Its not new in Hollywood to present bland silliness and satire packaged with utmost seriousness, 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' comes off initially as a potential winner from this genre. While it had the necessary humor and a stellar star-cast capable of enacting that, the script neither reaches the edginess it should have nor pushes the boundary to make this movie memorable.Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is a journalist by profession and going through a professional and personal crisis that he is so desperate to get out of. When he meets Gus Lacey (Stephen Root) and hears about the US Army's 'New Earth Army' that deals with parapsychology and psychic capabilities trained by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), he knows that he encountered the story he has been waiting for that could get him out of his crisis. He meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) by chance in Iraq and tags along with him into wilderness to cover a 'mission' in action.George Clooney and Jeff Bridges have played goofy characters in the past - 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' and 'The Big Lebowski' respectively, a little disappointed that they don't share enough screen space. However it was more than compensated with some crackling chemistry and impeccable comic timing between McGregor and Clooney. While the writers, director and editors succeed in setting up an interesting plot taking cues from disjointed real events, the audience would be stuck in a never ending wait for the stakes to go up. Kevin Spacey does a character he has done a thousand times over and seems to have sleepwalked it. The production values are excellent all thanks to the big cast it boasts of, though the quality of humor is great, the jokes are a little too few and far to get wholesome entertainment. Though the director Grant Heslov is not new to Hollywood, it is still his debut of directing a major Hollywood feature and does a decent job.Watch it for the satire, crackling chemistry and comic timing between Clooney and McGregor. Feels like a meal that finished with just the appetizers.

grantss Okay, but quite disappointing. Had huge potential, and started out well - large degree of intrigue, and incredibly funny at times. Lost its way in the middle section - drifting aimlessly. Final section was worse - random, and tried to throw in some meaningless hippy philosophy to boot. It was as if the director, Grant Heslov, was trying to emulate the Coen Brothers in making a funny, quirky, snappy-dialogued yet clever-plot movie. He even recruits two Coen Brothers regulars - George Clooney and Jeff Bridges - to try to give it a Coen Brothers feel. Unfortunately, that is where the similarity ends. This is certainly no Coen Brothers movie. They don't ever lose focus.Good cast - George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey - does their best, but their talents are wasted, through either being miscast, or due to the mediocre plot and direction. Clooney and McGregor are great in their roles, but Kevin Spacey is badly miscast. Strangely, Jeff Bridges seems miscast too. You would think the role suited him - the disheveled, loony hippy - very similar to The Dude in Big Lebowski. He seems strangely flat in the role, like he was trying too hard to be the loony hippy.Overall, the over-the-top humour and premise of the movie make it likable, though it could have been so much better.

coulinjo The only movie I've ever seen for which I have no criticism at all. Every line, every move, is spot on. I'd always thought of Clooney as a film star rather than an actor so it was a surprise. Amazingly well done. I have been tempted to watch it again, but the only thing that stops me is finding something jarring or irritating in it - and I like the fact that there may be one movie out there with none. Apparently I now have to write ten line of text even though I thought a succinct review might be enough. I don't know why I would have to go into plot lines to rehash what everyone has or will see. but it seems to be a requirement to be able to leave my (obviously important!)review.