“More of this is true than you would believe,” flashes on the screen at the start of The Men Who Stare at Goats. That sounds promising, because the film is based on the well-received nonfiction book by Welsh journalist Jon Ronson.  But a disclaimer at the end of the film that goes by too fast to read says that many of the characters and much of the plot has no connection to the book. That is too bad, because the real story sounds funny and fascinating, and the film has a first rate cast. But as an absurd comedy, The Men Who Stare at Goats is plodding, and not nearly as funny as it should be.

The murky plot involves Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a dull journalist who battles the pain of his divorce by investigating a story about a division of the military that employs psychic techniques to battle the nation’s enemies. Wilton’s investigation takes him to Kuwait, where he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) a former member of the 1980’s Project Jedi, which employed techniques like “remote viewing” in service of the forces of “good over evil,” as Wilton explains in one of the film’s many cloying voiceovers.  Wilton soon joins Cassady on a “mission” and they have adventures (surprise) like getting lost in the desert. The film uses flashbacks to tell the story of the beginning of the “New Earth Army” started by guru military guy Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) who employs drugs and new age techniques in their psychic training. This is where Django meets Cassady and Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) who has similar psychic talents.  The film’s name comes from a project involving the use of goats, culminating in Cassady being directed to stop a goat’s heart. He is plagued by guilt, and the unit eventually breaks up. Or do they? As one of the characters notes, “It is hard to believe the Pentagon paid for this.” It is also hard to believe that producer George Clooney got anyone to pay for this film.

Perhaps the only good thing about this film is a trio of excellent performances. Kevin Spacey gives the film’s funniest performance as the stiff and goofy Larry Hooper. During psychic testing, Hooper use a high pitched voice as he channels a “spirit guide” and Spacey somehow gets lots of comic mileage out of the statement, “I see a tin mug.” For much of the film, Hooper is at odds with the rest of the unit, especially founder Bill Django.  In both the flashback scenes and the present, Bridges makes this film better. He gives a rousing speech to his unit and talks about a “new America” and developing the power to walk through walls while wearing long hair and carrying a bouquet of flowers. He is commanding and sincere, making his scenes very funny.  George Clooney injects the weird Lyn Cassady with guilt and sincerity as Cassady talks to Bob Wilton about cloud bursting, bowing to the sun and goats. The best scenes in the film feature Clooney, Bridges and Spacey together.  Ewan McGregor is a bit of a weak link here. I usually enjoy his performances, but his journalist character is neither convincing nor interesting, and he seems out of his element here.  Perhaps McGregor was only cast in this role because it is amusing to hear his character make many Star Wars references, knowing that McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars Episode III.

I am in favor of a film satirizing military waste and poor judgment, but the screenplay by Peter Straughan  suffers from a lack of cohesion and does not do the subject matter justice. The cartoonish style of direction is annoying, and the characters are cardboard cutouts, which make it difficult to feel invested in their fates. The liberties taken with the truth would be fine if they were funnier.  But these liberties are also frustrating because the audience knows that in this case, the truth might just be more interesting than the fiction. The three leads have a few very funny scenes, but with a running time of only 94 minutes, the film still feels interminable.

Near the end of the film, we see a scene where a whole military unit is fed LSD, and finds everything funny.  Perhaps that is what happened in the editing room of The Men Who Stare at Goats.

The Men Who Stare at Goats.  Directed by Grant Heslov.  George Clooney (Lyn Cassady), Ewan McGregor (Bob Wilton), Jeff Bridges (Bill Django), and Kevin Spacey (Larry Hooper). Overture Films, 2009.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

 

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