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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:31

Fresh:12

Rotten:19

Average Rating:4.8/10

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: $31,847,604

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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It’s a disappointment.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment 2 Comments
11/09/09
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
At the Movies
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Everyone involved seems to have had a pretty good time, but this one looks like it was more fun to make than it is to watch.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
11/09/09
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
At the Movies
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The narrative flips and flops ruin the comedic flow.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment 1 Comment
11/06/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
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If this is what a Hollywood liberal conscience looks like, it's a glib and useless thing.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment 8 Comments
11/06/09
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
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This is grizzled, wild-eyed Clooney, not the suave sophisticate, and it's a nice change of pace.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment 1 Comment
11/06/09
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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It seems too much a privilege to be chuckling in the theater about psychic warfare while the unfunny business of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continues.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment 8 Comments
11/06/09
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
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Heslov directs for the first time in a career that, I pray, will consist of one movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 1 Comment
11/06/09
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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Clooney and Bridges model an assortment of wigs and facial hair as they labor to put across their outsize characters.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/06/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
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The sense of emotional detachment keeps things feeling smooth and low-key, but, as is clear in the film's last few scenes, the playful tone shades into the simply trivial, which in the setting doesn't quite play.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/06/09
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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The picture lacks discipline and focus at times, but it's fun despite the chaos, although a wandering-in-the-desert scene goes on far too long.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
11/06/09
Linda Barnard
Linda Barnard
Toronto Star
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A likable, lightweight, absurdist comedy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
11/06/09
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
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There's no doubt we need more movies for grown-ups, with jokes that don't hit us over the head, but The Men Who Stare at Goats doesn't fit the bill. At best, it might hypnotize you into a stupor.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
11/05/09
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com
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There's not much of a story here. All that energy, all that enthusiasm and all that self-generated propulsion are about one thing: distracting us from realizing it.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/05/09
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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You may wonder if this screen version of the book of the same name is as unfunny and strangely mushy as it seems, but trust your instincts.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
11/05/09
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
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If there doesn't seem to be enough story here to make a movie, seeing the film's practiced farceurs at work can't help but be amusing. A lot more fun, all things considered, than trying to will yourself through a wall.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/05/09
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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The yarn unravels without ever identifying its satirical targets. Is it a lampoon of peace-and-love mysticism? A critique of militant war-for-profit privateers? Ultimately, it's a shapeless wad of goat cheese.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/05/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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This is the anti-Hurt Locker experience: Where that Iraq War film was absorbing and deadly serious, The Men Who Stare at Goats is irreverent and lighthearted.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
11/05/09
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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The Men Who Stare at Goats has a glorious good time satirizing the extravagant lengths to which the military and intelligence establishments will go if they think there's a payoff at the other end.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
11/05/09
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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What had been a slightly quirky satire becomes first a wild comedy, then an impassioned exposé. Taking itself too seriously (and treating the military as a joke), it quickly begins to unravel.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 3 Comments
11/05/09
Anthony Venutolo
Anthony Venutolo
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You can’t make this stuff up, but you can botch the telling of it, and that’s what sinks this satiric drama based loosely on a 2004 nonfiction book by London-based journalist Jon Ronson.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/05/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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