Clooney psychs up audiences
Thursday, November 12, 2009
With wit and intuition, George Clooney and Ewan McGregor lead off in “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” a comedy that opened last Friday. A crazed and stumbling, fumbling, jumble of loudly mumbled one-liners and stunts that are purposefully bumbled (oh, slapstick!), “Goats” is the kind of film that makes your desire to not laugh crumble.
First, let me assure you, this is not your grandfather’s goat-infused war epic. This is a completely new kind of film, the kind that relies on the prestige of the leading actors whilst it humiliates them with embarrassing situations and a ridiculous storyline. It comes off kind of like a Disney flick intended for adults. The storyline, set in the Iraq War, is at once confusingly complex and ridiculously retro, while the characters are lovably quirky and fantastically unbelievable.
George Clooney plays retired soldier Lyn Cassady, who claims to be entering Iraq on a secret mission from his unit of psychic soldiers. Desperate for a story and eager to prove to his ex-wife that he isn’t a coward, reporter Bob Wilton (McGregor) follows Cassady into the war-torn country. The two men travel through a series of hilarious obstacles and entertaining situations, all the while taking turns narrating the crazy back-story. It involves Lyn’s army unit, who are allegedly able to do things remotely through psychic powers like running through walls and killing goats.
It seems like the cliché message in war movies is either praising the allied victory in WWII or protesting the United States’ involvement in Vietnam, but this movie is different. “Goats” is far too confused and muddled to actually know what it’s trying to say, which you might blame on the rampant substance abuse displayed by its two main characters/narrators. Essentially, this movie seems like it’s trying to make a point, but it keeps tripping on its own satire.
I really appreciated “The Men Who Stare at Goats” because it was so strange and out of the box. For an eccentric plot, fairly good acting, and especially for not taking itself seriously, “Goats” deserves a hearty four out of five stars.
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