Staring at Goats

Is it possible to like a comedy which you don't laugh much at it? I've done it before. If the film remains intriguing and interesting, if the characters are absorbing, if I remain wanting to know what happens next, then yes, I can recommend it.

And that's precisely where I view The Men Who Stare At Goats. It's a film which is based on true events (though clearly some exaggerating has occurred) which belongs in the so strange its true category. I found the narration and the character of a reporter portrayed by Exan McGregor helped bring me into the film. The events are crazy, and sometime in the future I will probably watch the film and laugh repeatedly as it catches me right.

This was not that time, and I didn't laugh that much. But I was amused, and intrigued and I wanted to know more of the story. McGregor plays Bob Wilton, who after his wife leaves him head out to Kuwait looking to find a big story around the Iraq war. There he finds Lyn Cassady, who claims to be "supersoldier". Bob finds Lyn's story fascinating and joins him in exploring Iraq while learning the story of supersoldiers.

In flashback, we learn Lyn was one of the members of the First Earth Battalion. We learn how this came from research done by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) based on his experiences in Vietnam who essentially incorporated new age ideas into trying to move the military into preserving peace rather than fighting war. So far so good.

But the way to bring about peace is to create superpowers through their minds, to find psychic powers, and apparently to incorporate the Jedi philosophy. This of course, gets ridiculous, and is where much of the humor of the film comes from. While I wasn't laughing as much as the filmmakers intended, I wanted to know more.

Of course, this being the military, politics does come into it, which is where Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) comes in. He is looking for an angle, and the new age ideas of Django ultimately become something less idealistic. Eventually, because why have the framing story in Iraq if it doesn't, this back story is going to inform what ultimately happens in Iraq.

Director Grant Helov smartly doesn't show off any great visual flourishes. He understands the story is the star here, so he tells it as straight forward as possible. As the plot I just described begins to show, this is one goofy story. I cannot remember a movie with as crazy a story as this. So why get silly with it?

It's a great cast, and they play it sraight. Which is why the movie ultimately drew me in. If the film had spent the time winking at me, I would have checked out. But instead, I was drawn in because through all the silliness of the plot, I believed in the characters. When Django's idealism is betrayed, I wanted to know his ultimate result. I was always intrigued, I was already interested.

I just wished I would have laughed more.

Grade: B-