Film's tale so strange, it must be true?
Posted Nov 19, 2009 By Mark Haskins
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Tweet ThisMOVIE - The Men Who Stare at Goats
STARRING: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges
DIRECTOR: Grant Heslov
RATING: R
EMC Lifestyle - I went to 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' to see George Clooney tell Ewan 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' McGregor "I am a Jedi warrior". It was even funnier in the movie than it was in the trailer. In fact it was one of the best running gags I've seen in a long time.
The film claims more of it is true than you might believe. After seeing The Men Who Stare at Goats I'd say most of it is probably true. It's the kind of story that's so strange it has to be true, because no one could make this up. I also like to think there might be real Jedi warriors out there.
Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is a reporter looking for these Jedi warriors. Bob stumbles on to the story when he interviews a man claiming to be part of a secret military unit of psychic spies. He tells Bob that the best of the best was a man called Lyn Cassady (George Clooney).
Later Bob finds himself in Kuwait waiting to get into Iraq. It's there he runs into Lyn Cassady. Bob asks Lyn if he can join him, but Lyn isn't willing to talk at first. Then something changes Lyn's mind, and he decides to take Bob with him.
Along the way Lyn tells Bob about his unit the New Earth Army. Lyn was trained to be a super soldier with real super powers. Under the tutelage of their mentor Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) Lyn, and the other members of his unit, were trained to travel psychically anywhere in the world, become invisible, and walk through walls.
Then one of their own destroyed it all. Larry Hopper (Kevin Spacey) didn't share Bill's ideals of peace, mutual respect, and togetherness. He only wanted power. His lust for power led to Bill's dishonourable discharge, and Lyn leaving the unit.
It's an unbelievable story, and yet Bob has the proof sitting beside him. Lyn is a Jedi warrior, or at least he really believes he is a Jedi warrior.
The cast is as unbelievable as the story. I couldn't believe they all agreed to do this film. Don't get me wrong I think it's a great film, and Clooney, Bridges, Spacey and McGregor are brilliant, but I would have loved to have seen their faces when they read the script for the first time. I don't know what would have been funnier, the look on Ewan McGregor's face when he read it for the first time, or the look on George Lucas' face when Ewan told him about it.
My wife and I left The Men Who Stare at Goats asking ourselves "What had we just seen?" It's so bizarre it almost defies description. Yet we also left the theatre laughing. This is going to be one of those films some people hate, and others think is hilarious. Personally, I thought it was hilarious.
Mark Haskins' column is a regular feature in the EMC.
