Film Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
If one were to judge by the "creative" practices of film distributors and translators the world over, a title is often the least important part of any given film. Yet sometimes, as in the case of The Men Who Stare at Goats, the title can prove to be a genuinely intriguing device capable of stimulating the imagination of potential cinemagoers. Had such a title been employed by a more artisanal or national cinema, cynical viewers might have assumed it heralded yet another unconventional portrayal of provincial everyday life, or perhaps a drama about the goings-on of a typical beauty pageant jury. Fortunately, the distributors did not experiment too wildly this time, and audiences were instead treated to a black Hollywood comedy whose protagonists have professional reasons to stare at goats.
The reason for such peculiar activity is the subject of the eponymous book and television documentary by British investigative journalist Jon Ronson, who laid bare a series of bizarre details concerning a secret United States military programme for parapsychological warfare. Specially selected soldiers were allegedly trained to spy on the enemy through meditation and astral projection — and, more sensationally, to kill with a stare.
Ronson's fictional alter ego in the film is an American journalist by the name of Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who, in 2003, sets off for Kuwait in pursuit of adventure and to cover the Gulf War, where he chances upon Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney), a former member of an elite unit of parapsychological "Jedi" warriors. Cassidy proceeds to recount the unit's bizarre history.
The film's plot — based on real persons and events — is more than intriguing. Yet, as in so many comparable cases, the Hollywood treatment has rendered it spent and unconvincing, striving, as it does, to "outdo" reality with "spiritualised" fiction. Peter Straughan's screenplay squanders all the best gags on the trailer, whilst the endeavour to lend the film an "engaged" quality by situating the action in occupied Iraq feels forced and contrived. Although Grant Heslov's direction is largely solid, the cast appears rather too relaxed, as though unsure whether they are inhabiting a comedy or something more earnest. With authors who cannot decide whether to treat their subject seriously or with humour, The Men Who Stare at Goats ultimately emerges as a work whose title is not merely the best element — it is the only good one.
Rating: 3/10
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