Latter day "Catch-22" meets "Dr. Strangelove" by way of the Coen Bros.; a mixed bag at best

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2009)

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS (2009) ** George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Stephen Root, Glenn Morshower, Nick Offerman. Middling satirical comedy trying in vain to be a 21st century "Catch-22" meets "Dr. Strangelove" with intrepid reporter McGregor (seemingly miscast as an American) whose desire for finding real news lands him in the Middle East where he comes across Clooney (gung-ho kookiness in check), claiming to be a former member of the US Army's First Earth Battalion, which incorporates paranormal techniques for its self-professed 'Jedi Knights' (mmm, maybe that's why McGregor was cast – tongue-in-cheekily?). Despite a game cast (including Bridges as the hippie-a-la Lebowski officer who created the zany program) and its latter day Coen Bros.' vibe, novice filmmaker (and frequent Clooney collaborator) Grant Heslov has a somewhat flat-footed way of directing and the screenplay by Peter Straughan (based on Jon Ronson's book) is a hit-and-miss affair yet there are a few goony laughs to be had.