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Movies / In Theaters / The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Men Who Stare at Goats

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The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

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Reviews Counted:166

Fresh:89

Rotten:77

Average Rating:5.7/10

Consensus: Though The Men Who Stare at Goats is a mostly entertaining, farcical glimpse of men at war, some may find its satire and dark humor less than edgy.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some drug content and brief nudity

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Nov 6, 2009 Wide

Box Office: $31,289,229

Synopsis: A reporter (Ewan McGregor) delves into the world of psychic military regiments during the Iraq War in this adaptation of the Jon Ronson book THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. George Clooney, Kevin... A reporter (Ewan McGregor) delves into the world of psychic military regiments during the Iraq War in this adaptation of the Jon Ronson book THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges star in the Smoke House/BBC Films production. [More]

Starring: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey

Starring: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey

Director: Grant Heslov

Director: Grant Heslov
Screenwriter: Peter Straughan
Producer: Paul Lister, George Clooney, Grant Heslov
Studio: Overture

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Reviews for The Men Who Stare at Goats

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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At best, it's an assembly line of disconnected gags that rely entirely on Mr. Clooney's sub-deadpans and Mr. McGregor's innocent mug working perpendicular to the jokes. At worst, it's a meditation on the greater absurdities of New Age beliefs and ideals.

Full Review Source: Cinemalogue.com | comment Comment
12/06/09
Rubin Safaya
Rubin Safaya
Cinemalogue.com

There's a lament for perverting the purity of essence in enlightenment to military-complex exploitation. Like the film's test goats, it's been de-bleated and, given the pithy talk of Jedi warriors, this is not the political satire you're looking for.

Full Review Source: Suite101.com | comment Comment
12/03/09
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
Suite101.com

Through the whole film one has the feeling that the real story is just about to begin, but like the original military project, we go nowhere and nothing ever comes of anything.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
11/30/09
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Psychic spies. Jedi warriors. Clooney delivers big time, but the story could have been better.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment Comment
11/26/09
Jeff Bayer
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

Comes to us as the latest political satire to have inadvertently sliced off its own pair.

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
11/25/09
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

Begins with the subtitle: "More of this is true than you would believe." It's the perfect beginning to a film that deftly combines truth and fiction.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
11/20/09
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Setting up easy targets, The Men Who Stare at Goats seems less clever than behind the times.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment 5 Comments
11/19/09
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Mind-altering drugs just might make it seem better than it is.

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment 1 Comment
11/18/09
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

A quietly wacky military satire good for scattered chuckles and laughs.

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment Comment
11/13/09
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Not the acerbic, Strangelovian satire one might expect but a pleasant, good-natured film that adopts the happy hippy vibe of Bridges' far-out Vietnam vet...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
11/13/09
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

This story is a myth, but it is pleasant, gentle and funny. Like all myths, it reveals certain truths.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment 1 Comment
11/13/09
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Too shallow for satire and not funny enough for comedy, the infantile Goats is really just a silly absurdist movie trying to pass for an antiwar film.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment 1 Comment
11/13/09
Cosmo Landesman
Cosmo Landesman
Sunday Times (UK)

The picture soon runs literally and figuratively into the sands and can't dig itself out.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
11/13/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Sometimes hits big with genuine laugh-out-loud moments, but more often, this comedy leaves us scratching our heads, wondering where it all went so wrong.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/13/09
Frank Wilkins
Frank Wilkins
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Feels all too light; it's a movie wherein all the best, funniest bits were shown in the trailer.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/12/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

I walked out feeling as if it had been enjoyable, even though the word on my lips was, 'Huh?'

Full Review Source: Tolucan Times | comment 1 Comment
11/12/09
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times

A likable little movie that feels more indie than most indies, isn't afraid to shamble along, and, sadly, seems oblivious to the fact that it's in need of a bigger ending.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
11/12/09
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

...Clooney is tongue in cheek convincing.

Full Review Source: Nolan's Pop Culture Review | comment Comment
11/11/09
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Whatever George Clooney and his friends are smoking, could they please pass some of it around? We're confused and we need it.

Full Review Source: East Bay Express | comment 2 Comments
11/11/09
Kelly Vance
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express

Maybe it is just easier to laugh at things that happened decades ago, but the contemporary story never attains the same power as the flashbacks.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment Comment
11/11/09
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
 
 
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