No Goats No Glory

If George Clooney were to sit three feet away from me and stare at me for a good 5 minutes....I would kneel over and die. So would most women I know. What chance does a goat have against the mesmeric blue eyes of Clooney?

I just had to write a review for director Grant Heslov's movie called The Men Who Stare at Goats because this is the funniest screwball comedy I have seen in the year 2009. If you like Coen Brothers, I say you go watch this one.

The movie starts with a note saying "This movie is more true than you would believe it to be" ....or words to that effect. Now the beauty of this little sentence in the context of this movie is truly stupendous. I spent the whole movie trying to figure out which bits of it are true and which are made up. But everything about in this movie is so farcical that it is hard to

Ok, so we have a loser journalist Bob Wilton (played by cuteii Ewan McGregor) whose wife leaves him for another man. He decides to go to Iraq, play the sympathy card and get his wife back. Only, he lands up in Kuwait and bumps into one Lynn Cassidy (Clooooooooney). Bob remembers that he had heard about this Lynn Cassidy when he had interviewed another man about psychic powers. Lynn, he (other guy not Bob) he claimed, was the ultimate in psychic powers.

Lynn takes a liking to Bob and reveals to him that he is a part of the (and get this) The New Earth army - an exclusive wing of the US intelligence and army who believe in non-lethal weapons and methods. They want to make peace and not war. They are, in other words, hippie Jedi Warriors. Lynn then invites Bob to go along with him on a "mission".

What this mission is ...no body knows, but the journey of Lynn and Bob is hilarious. They get kidnapped, shot at, land up at a house of an Iraqi, get lost in the desert. All thanks to Lynn and his Jedi powers. The interaction between Bob and Lynn and the banter between them provides some sparkling moments. Lynn totally believes in this psychic BS and its absolutley amazing how Lynn says these completely idiotic things with a deadpan face. howlarious! really.

The main narrative goes into flashback every now and then into the story of how the Jedi warrriors and the New Earth Army actually originated. Apparently, it all started with Lynn's commander, Bill Django (Jeff Bridges....the Lebowski returns) had a vision in Vietnam which set him off on this path. The formation and the activities of the Jedi warriors is extremely comical to say the least. Imagine Full Metal Jacket mixed with Bohemian Raphsody! Sir yes Sir!

Anyway, the happy days of the New Earth Army come to an end due to the antics of Larry Something (played by what i call fat Kevin Spacey - what happened to the lean chap in American Beauty?). The unit gets disbanded and Django disappears.

The end of the movie brings the threads together - again I am tempted to tell you the ending but I will try and be good. And not tell who what happens to Men Who Stare at Goats.

So go watch the movie for the crackling dialogue, outrageous situations, great acting by Clooney and Bridges and a mystery - at the end of the movie, I bet you will come out thinking how much of it is true. Happy figuring that out!