The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) Review

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

The Men Who Stare at Goats follows Bob Wilton, a journalist, who stumbles upon former psychic special forces solider Lyn Cassady, as he follows him on a dangerous, top-secret mission across Iraq to find the brigade's founder, Bill Django. 

As I sit down to write this, I’m left wondering what the point of The Men Who Stare at Goats is. Is it a political satire? A trip down memory lane for those who recall the New Age Movement? Or is it simply a quirky film about two men who go on an adventure of self discovery? Frankly, I have no Earthly idea. Nor can I definitively say whether or not it’s good or bad because again, I’m still not quite sure what the point of it all is, if there even is one. What I can say however, is that despite it’s strange quality and plot that rather literally leads you out into the middle of nowhere, it made me smile. Perhaps for it’s sly comedic tones, or the prepostery in which the film is framed, centering on Cassady’s innate belief that he is capable of Jedi mind tricks, which come off as ramblings of a mad man in the present day, despite Wilton’s willingness to believe. 

It approaches the government’s past experiments and exploits of the mind with a sort of reverence, that at the same time, poke fun at the idea through silly flashbacks, that almost makes you wish these silly Jedi mind tricks were real and that there were a way to fight wars peacefully, without conflict, as 3 separate wars rage on in the context of this film, all of which for pointless, material reasons. Which, in the grand scheme of it all, probably is the point of The Men Who Stare—to imagine a reality where wars can be fought with the mind, without violence, and without damaging the young men and women we send to fight them in the process. 

We get a pretty rock solid cast here too, starring Stephen Root, Nick Offerman, Robert Patrick, Waleed Zuaiter, Stephen Lang, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, and Ewan McGregor. In a crowd of great talent, Clooney really finds a way to shine with his deadpan commitment to saying and doing the most outrageous things with complete commitment and intensity, regardless of whether or not his powers are real. 

Based on the book by Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats, directed by Grant Heslov, is a strange and quirky anti-war film that lacks in any real development or meaning, but it’s refreshingly different and oddly whimsical, so so what?

6.9/10