The Men Who Stare at Goats

This is just a fun movie that doesn't take itself seriously, and yet deals in part with some very serious themes. It claims to be based more in truth than We the Audience might like to believe. At the very least, it makes me want to read Jon Ronson's book.

If begins with Brigadier General Hopgood (Stephen Lang) staring unblinkingly at the wall across from his desk. He tells one of his colleagues he's going into the next room, and then proceeds to run smack into the wall. And that pretty much sets the tone for most of the movie. Serious actors making fools of themselves and having fun doing it.

Ultimately, it's a buddy movie. And let me just say there is nothing quite like a good buddy comedy. Ewan McGregor's just-divorced Ann Arbor journalist stuck in Kuwait, and George Clooney as an undercover Jedi warrior whose name was once mentioned to McGregor in an interview with a local nutcase (Stephen Root).

And speaking of Ewan McGregorbest, he really surprised me. Not that he steals the show at all, but McGregor has always bothered me when he plays Americans as his accent too often gets in the way ("Big Fish" being the lone exception). But here, where he has the added burden of being the film's narrator, he finds the perfect balance. This is also his best role since at least Obi-Wan Kenobi (say what you will about the "Star Wars" prequels, but he made a worthy successor to Alec Guinness). It might not be incidental that he already played a Jedi, but then it might be.

The other actor I'd like to draw attention to is Kevin Spacey as the backstabbing Larry Hooper, who plotted in flashbacks to usurp the New Army unit from the hippy Lt. Bill Django (Bridges, very Dude). While it's just a supporting role, it was a pleasant reminder of what a terrific character actor Spacey was before "American Beauty" turned him into a leading man. Watching him act opposite Clooney in just a few scenes makes me just want more. Here's hoping they get another opportunity.

Clooney's good friend and collaborator Grant Heslov, who helped pen "Good Night, and Good Luck," peppers this movie with enough off-beat absurdities to have the audience chuckling at every scene. And then he'll throw a wrench in the works and give us a moment of unexpected tragedy. There is a scene about midway through when Clooney and McGregor, having just escaped kidnappers along with a local, are picked up by some contractors led by Robert Patrick. When the contractors are refueling the tank a motorcycle backfiring sends the contractors into a frenzy firing on another contractor's SUV and everyone in between. While this is probably a more plausible incident than a lot of what goes on in the film, it seems like one of the more surreal moments. And that speaks to the film as a whole that fantastical events seem real, and this doesn't.

In other words, "The Men Who Stare at Goats" isn't meant as a serious movie, even though it deals with some serious things. It's a fun movie, but it's not sugar-coated fun. It's also worth mentioning that there is little or no graphic violence to be seen, although plenty is suggested. In this instance I have to applaud that decision, in keeping with the philosophy of the New Army.