In theory, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” should be hands-down the funniest movie you will see between now and the start of next summer’s comedy season; and it’s made all the more frustrating by the fact that it’s not.
An offbeat quirk-fest that’s half military comedy and half political satire, while starring George Clooney and Kevin Spacey, must look like nothing short of a money maker on paper, which is why it was likely green-lit in the first place.
The film is like a sports franchise that goes after the players with the highest statistics, then throws them all together on the playing field, hoping the result is something that resembles a ball game: there are plenty of big plays, but the final product is a bunch of superstars lacking direction, rather than a well-oiled athletic machine.
Clooney’s, Spacey’s, Jeff Bridges’ and even Ewan McGregor’s performances could all potentially be called “brilliant” in their own right, but missing is an interlocking cohesion with the narrative flow, ultimately creating a jarring story that seems to end before you ever get to know who these kooks are.
McGregor plays Bob Wilton: existentialist, journalist and narrator of the film.
After his wife (Rebecca Mader) leaves him, Wilton looks for the perfect story to demonstrate his worth and win her back, but instead lands in the kitchen of an ex-military research subject (Stephen Root).
He tells Wilton of a secret government project to train “psychic warriors.”
Thinking he’s hit a dead end, but still adamant to prove something to his wife, Wilton follows a lead to the Middle East where he has a rendezvous with Lyn Cassady (Clooney), another product of the “psychic” research program. Determined to get a story, Wilton rides shotgun with Cassady on a “mission” into the Iraqi desert and listens to his story of the research.
Cassady tells how he and others were trained by unorthodox officer Bill Django (Bridges), a hippie who believed that wars could be won and enemies overtaken simply by a superior state of mind.
Thus, what Cassady refers to as a class of “Jedi Warriors,” was born.
According to his story, things were kosher until the arrival of Larry Hooper (Spacey), a subject in the program who had ulterior motives as to the future of the program.
“The Men Who Star at Goats,” even all the way up until its 60 minute mark, feels like it is building to something, and the arrival of Spacey is the first hint that there might not be such a grand payoff in the end.
Spacey’s character is one of the many elements that feel peripheral to everything else.
The skeleton for a truly funny movie seems to have been assembled, but when it came time to inject real substance into it, it seems a few big names were thrown at it and left to stew.
This makes for a mansion without a solid foundation: While it can’t be said that most of the jokes fall flat (because they don’t – many of them are actually quite funny), when you laugh at them, the question lingers inside you: “Is this it?”
You feel compelled to latch onto the film’s slapstick moments – to which it has every right to contain – and let them carry you onward until the next funny moment, all the while the space between feels like a wasteland of what could have been a dark, hysterical, yet funny thriller.
This year’s “Burn After Reading” it is not, which is unfortunate because that certainly seems what its advertising campaign makes it out to be.
‘Goats’ never makes it over the mountain
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009
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He produced "The Informant" and everyone bragged about how great it was also. We saw it at Toronto also. We knew how bad and confusing it was before it came out also. Truly a confusing and wandering movie. Georges' mind wanders alot anymore, or he is just trying to cover too many areas. Every critic praised "The Informant", but after it was released most movie goers felt differently. They will feel the same about" Up in the Air" also. It isn't what the critics are bragging about. Let's see. 3 Clooney movies in 2 months, that is burn out anyway-what was George thinking. That can kill your career. It is called over exposure. George is a wonderful actor and he can do so much more than these two horrible movies. Where has the real George Clooney gone. Come back to us George!!!!!!