Early Clooney review

July 14th 2009, 10:28am

I have the book “The Men Who Stare at Goats” by Jon Ronson sitting on my nightstand. It’s been sitting there for quite some time, I’m embarrassed to say. I haven’t opened it up at all or ready more than the back cover. But now I’m thinking I’ve got to crack this puppy open…

Our old friend “That Chilean Kid” checks back in today with another early review of an upcoming movie, this time the movie adaptation of MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. It stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Jeff Bridges and was directed by Grant Heslov (writer of GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK). If you’re wondering about the film’s title and subsequent plot, this sums it up pretty well:

A secret wing of the U.S. military called First Earth Battalion was created in 1979 with the purpose of creating “Warrior Monks,” soldiers capable of walking through walls, becoming invisible, reading minds and even killing a goat simply by staring at it.

In the film, McGregor stars as Ronson, a reporter out investigating the war in Iraq. There he begins to uncover the weirdness described above. Here’s what our friend TCK has to say about the film (currently set for a 2010 release):

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THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS… That’s an odd title to say the least. The movie title had me at goats. This comedy was something to behold because it had a great cast and wonderfully timed comedy. Also any movie that borderline resurrects Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski instantly deserves an Oscar. Anyway, the movie starts out with a rather odd beginning involving JK Simmons. It doesn’t really follow the rest of the story at all but it is a good setup for the films topics and is nonetheless pretty funny.

Afterward we meet a disenchanted reporter named Bob, played by Ewan McGregor. He gets stuck with crappy stories, like a learn how to be a psychic video maker played by Stephen Root, his wife is cheating on him with his boss, and he just feels empty. He tries to fix all three by going to Iraq in the middle of the war trying to do a story. He has none until he meets a fellow at his hotel who goes by the name of Lynn. Lynn Cassady. He claims that Stephen Root was telling the truth, the government did train his pyschic powers, they were trained to kill animals, and both of them were part of this Remote Viewing Black Ops Team. Lynn gives Bob the interview of a lifetime.First off is Jeff Bridges, who is literally top notch in the movie. He is Bill Django who put together the government funded Remote Viewing Group. He left the military base a Captain and came back as The DUDE! He grew out his hair and came back with peace and love. My favortie character to say the least.

Next up was the always amazing George Clooney who played Lynn Cassady. What’s there to say? He loves to dance, owns a dance studio, can split clouds with his mind, and is a dangerous man. Most of the comedy comes from Clooney and his amazing sense of Timing in the movie. Even some of the things that begin serious end up hilarious. Ewan McGregor was damn good as well. He played a great straightman as he entered the zany world of psychics. Everyone in the supporting cast was equally amazing and brought out the best in the movie.

Overall the movie was great!. It wasn’t a huge Oscar film but rather a short quirky little comedy backed up by Oscar Winning actors. I can’t imagine the film winning awards but I would absolutely see it again. The biggest flaw of the movie is that it didn’t really have anything special. By no means is it a bad movie but rather lackluster. It wasn’t beautifully shot, editing was good except for some jerky cuts, and the one thing the movie has going for it is its story and characters which is enough. It is a very intriguing story I will say and it does make me want to go out and buy the book. In the end the movie had my attention and almost made me cry from laughter. Good Night

I’d say 8.5 out of 10

Favorite quote is written on the screen in big letters: “More of this true than what you think”