The Men Who Stare at Goats

By Jeff Niesel

Much like the great Joseph Heller novel Catch-22 (which made for a pretty good movie, staring Alan Arkin and Bob Newhart), The Men Who Stare at Goats makes fun of outrageous military tactics. The parody revolves about Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) and his First Earth Battalion, a division of the US Army that specializes in using paranormal skills to defeat the enemy. When Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a journalist trying to make a name for himself as a war reporter, has a chance encounter with Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a contractor about to broker a deal in Iraq, he stumbles upon a connection to First Earth since Lyn is a member who is on a secret mission. Sensing Lyn would make a great subject for an article, Bob hitches a ride with him, crossing the Kuwait border into Iraq. The Men Who Stare at Goatsis consistently funny. Perhaps drawing on his experience in the Coen brothers’ madcap movies, Clooney is great as a slightly unhinged Lyn Cassady and even though he struggles with an American accent, McGregor holds his own as his unsuspecting sidekick.