Based on the work of non-fiction with the same name The Men Who Stare at Goats starts with a simple disclaimer: More of this is true than you would believe. And that is what draws the viewer in, a look into a government program looking for advantages in the counterculture.The idea of this movie though is probably the most interesting part. In fact had it not been for a push from Clooney and the acquisition of the big name actors who love this genre of farce then this movie would probably not have been made.
Its these big names that are what makes the movie. Clooney gets fully entrenched in this movie. Involved in sight-gags galore mostly involving his facial twitches and bulging eyes. Kevin Spacey also does well as his rival taking a sinister approach in the New Earth Army. His laughs come from being a general douche which he plays well, especially when facing a lovable opponent.
The show stealer is Jeff Bridges as Bill Django. There are elements of 'the Dude' in his portrayal of the character just on acid instead. His discovery of the new age movement is very enjoyable in the command position But unfortunately he is not in the movie nearly enough.
The only character not carrying his own weight was Ewen McGregor which is unfortunate as you get a whole lot of him as he tries to move the plot along in this one. It's like asking Zeppo Marx to take the lead away from Groucho (who is Zeppo -- Exactly! (I hope you are not asking who Groucho is (here comes a lot of end parenthesis marks))).
It seems like a long wait until you finally get to the part of the plot that you have been waiting for. You must first trudge through his personal reasons for going into Kuwait. When you finally get there it barely seems worth all that wondering in the desert.
The movie has a lot of little laughs but they are not connected in any sort of sequence. Rookie director Grant Heslov who worked with Clooney on Good Night and Good Luck seems to rely on the big names he has obtained rather than constructing the story.
Not that he is given much to work with as writer Peter Straughan doesn't seem to give the director a quality map to follow. The book doesn't have a central plot to it, as the book instead presents the fact he has obtained using a satiric tone. It is up to Staughan to put the plot together and he doesn't seem to get it done and the jokes that he offers seem to be too sly to translate to the big screen.
For this type of movie to be effective the jokes need to be much more edgy instead it follows its own advice and instead tries to be adorable. The movie had all the tools to put together something special but misses the mark. C-
