BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

ebiros2 After seeing this movie, I could only surmise that it's some kind of disinformation film to make jokes out of what is commonly known as remote viewing. The movie portrays remote viewers as army's attempt to train soldiers to be new age hippies (seriously). From what I've read the real remote viewers were deadly effective (otherwise the government wouldn't have funded them for 23 years). But if the effectiveness of remote viewing was really conveyed, it would be disclosing one of the closely guarded secrets of US military operations. So my take after seeing the movie is that it was created to be a disinformation campaign to make the world believe that this is what remote viewing is about. None of the characters in the movie could do remote viewing. As if it didn't exist. And maybe that's the real message this movie wanted to convey.

Matthew Kresal There is an old saying that truth is stranger than fiction. It is perhaps no surprise then that filmmakers have often found inspiration in true events in bringing stories to the screen. In what is definitely a case of "stranger than fiction" is The Men Who Stare At Goats, the 2009 film depicting the military's attempt to harness the forces of the paranormal in the name of national security. The results, like the film itself, are quite surprising.Going into the film, it's worth remembering that the credits state that it is "Inspired By The Book The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson". Like many a fact based film before it the film combines characters, events and locations together to create something that can fit more easily into a ninety-three minute package. Keeping that in mind though doesn't mean that the film is a complete work of fiction. On the contrary, many of the events shown in the film have a serious basis in reality. These include the New Earth Army, remote viewing programs (including the specific example used in the film) and indeed the film's very title. While the more "present day" elements are certainly more fictitious than other parts of the film, the film largely portrays real events within its more fictional context.Keeping all that in mind, there's plenty of enjoy about the film as a whole. The performances throughout are solid, playing up the absurd nature of the events being portrayed. Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton (a character apparently inspired by author Jon Ronson" is the viewer's in-way to events and acts as narrator as well as participant. George Clooney is Lyn Cassady with whom McGregor's Wilton spends much of his time with and whom we see through decades of his life in a performance that Clooney plays perfectly on the fine line that constantly leaves Wilton and the viewer alike wondering about his sanity. Much the same can be said of Jeff Bridges as the New Earth Army's founder Bill Django (based on the real-life Jim Channon) and which Bridges is perfectly cast to play. The film's supporting cast is strong as well including Kevin Spacey, Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Stephen Root and Waleed Zuaiter who all play up or down the comedy in their scenes to great success.The film, as a production, is solid as well. Peter Straughan's script finds the right balance of parody, comedy and occasional seriousness which sets much of the film's tone and that director Grant Heslov brings to the screen wonderfully. The film covers a large span of time from 1972 Vietnam to 2004 Iraq, a challenge that production designer Sharon Seymour and costumer Louise Frogley do a splendid job of bringing to life. If Straughan and Heslov create a quirky sense of tone, it's Seymour and Frogley who give it the sense of reality that makes it all the more incredible to watch. The result is a quirky, odd but definitely funny hour and a half. With an excellent cast and solid production values, it brings us the tale of the absurd measures that members of the US military went to test and use the paranormal with often surprising results. While not perhaps for all tastes, The Men Who Stare At Goats does prove one thing: that truth is more certainly stranger than fiction.

SnoopyStyle Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is a small town reporter told to interview psychic Gus Lacey (Stephen Root). Gus claims to have been in a special psychic unit in the U.S. Army. They were trained to kill psychically and one time they killed a goat by staring at it. Bob's wife (Rebecca Mader) leaves him for his editor. During the Iraq war, he's stuck in Kuwait waiting for permission where he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). Gus had previously mentioned Lyn as the skipper of the secret unit. After getting shot in Vietnam, Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) started investigating other ways to fight wars. Years of living with hippies leads him to start the New Earth Army. Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) is intend on using the findings for the dark side.The movie takes the quirky material and adds very little. The actors are sincere. Bridges brings a little bit of his inner Lebowski. Clooney is a little manic. McGregor is the wide-eye semi-loser. The characters are likable enough but the movie lacks bigger laughs. It's a lot of quirky stuff. It's not real enough to be compelling and it's not surreal enough to be fun. It's on the same path as Dr Strangelove but it's nowhere near as good. Director Grant Heslov is a relative novice and this needs better talents like the Coen brothers to pull it together.

FilmBuff1994 The Men Who Stare at Goats is a great movie with a really well developed and extremely unique and unusual storyline and a fantastic cast that all play characters that are different to what you would usually see them in.The best performance has to be George Clooney's, I'm seen him in several comedies but thus is the first time that I genuinely found him to be the funniest character in the movie,Ewan McGregor,Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey also deliver great performances. Fans of both war and comedy movies should definitely check out the Men Who Stare at Goats.A journalist may have found the story of a lifetime when he meets a man who was part of the US Army who claims he has been professionally trained to gain super powers.