The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic 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.
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Cast
as Lyn Cassady
as Bob Wilton
as Bill Django
as Larry Hooper
as Brigadier General Dean Hopgood
as Gus Lacey
as Todd Nixon
as Mahmud Daash
as Major Jim Holtz
as Scotty Mercer
as Tim Kootz
as Deborah Wilton
as Lieutenant Boone
as Dave
as Ron
as Gus' Mother
as Kuwait Waiter
as Journalist #1
as Journalist #2
as Vietnam Soldier
as Vietnam Private Chris
as VC Woman
as General Brown
as General Brown
as Kidnapper #1
as Kidnapper #2
as Iraqi Driver
as Technician
as Lyn's Father
as Lyn (12 years old)
as Insurgent
as Ben Echmeyer
as Krom - Phil Driver
as Krom - Texan
as Krom - Texan
as Krom - Chilean
as Krom - 3rd Security Man
as CIA Agent
as Major General Jack Gillian
as Clifford Hickox
as Norm Pendleton
as Norm Pendleton
as Major General Pendleton
as PSIC Worker #1
as PSIC Worker #2
as Army Soldier
as Stryker Soldier
as Bob's Editor
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Critic Reviews for The Men Who Stare at Goats
All Critics (206) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (106) | Rotten (100) | DVD (6)
All in all, Goats would have been groaningly familiar, even back in the 1960s.
It's a disappointment.
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.
The narrative flips and flops ruin the comedic flow.
If this is what a Hollywood liberal conscience looks like, it's a glib and useless thing.
This is grizzled, wild-eyed Clooney, not the suave sophisticate, and it's a nice change of pace.
Audience Reviews for The Men Who Stare at Goats
A mildly funny satire that seems to borrow from the Coen brothers' humor and has some very fine and vigorous performances, but after halfway through it starts to lose its comedic charm and ends with a disappointing, quick and easy wrap-up.
Super Reviewer
Supposedly based on a true story, this is just a load of rubbish. Would have been better making something up that was actually good.
Super Reviewer
Grant Heslov is mainly known for his producing and writing collaborations on some of George Clooney film's. However, on this occasion he takes the directorial reigns leaving me wondering what might have come of this film had someone with more experience been behind the camera. In the 1980's, reporter Bob Wilton (McGregor) stumbles onto the story of the 'New Earth Army', a bold, experimental unit formed by the U.S. It's purpose is to train so-called 'Jedi' warriors to use paranormal powers, including mind control, for the use in battle and to help in the interrogation of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Then he meets one of the unitâ(TM)s major players Lyn Cassady (Clooney), now supposedly retired, and tags along for a series of misadventures in Iraq. Amazingly, this is based on a true story and with this prior knowledge and superior cast, you'd expect something quite special. Sadly, it doesn't provide it. It starts off, looking very good indeed but after the half hour mark I started drifting when the realisation came, that it wasn't going anywhere. The cast are excellent as you'd expect; Clooney, once again shows nice comic touches and expressions, Spacey is under-used but still manages scene stealing moments and Bridges is absolutely brilliant as the spaced out, hippie commander Bill Django - which is a little reminder of his iconic portrayal of "The Dude" from "The Big Lebowski". McGregor also does well, amongst these heavy hitters and has nearly developed a decent American accent. It's just a shame that their performances were not helped with something that resembled a script. To be fair though, there are still some nice comedy moments and there are many interesting components to the story but it lacks drive. Maybe it's because the assembled cast is so impressive that more is expected. Or maybe, it's because it's in the hands of a novice director - punching above his weight. Either way, it disappoints. This is a film that the likes of the Coen brothers could have taken to great heights. It has a similar sense for the brothers' off-beat humour but lacks their creativity. A passable comedy, that amuses sporadically but relies too heavily on it four performers. It's them that maintain your interest but the material should have been delivered with more confidence.
Super Reviewer
The Men Who Stare at Goats Quotes
| Bill Django: | I just saw Timothy Leary. |
| Larry Hooper: | We're not doing that one anymore, idiot! |
| Larry Hooper: | (twizzlers) God I love these things. |
| Larry Hooper: | (Twizzlers) God I love these things. |
| Lyn Cassady: | I told you. I remote viewed you. |
| Larry Hooper: | THis could be the new age for Psychic research. |
| Bill Django: | I pray my boots will always kiss your face (earth). |
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