A Jedi in Iraq!

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2011)

I had heard fairly mixed reviews of this film but as the only clip I'd seen was very funny I thought I'd give it a go when it was on television; I'm glad I did as it was laugh out loud funny. Ewan McGregor plays Bob Wilton a journalist who heads off to war torn Iraq when his wife leaves him. While waiting at a hotel near the border he meets Lyn Cassady; a man who he had heard about before; a man who had apparently been part of a secret US Army Psychic Corps known as The New Earth Army. At first Lyn isn't too keen to discuss matters but when he sees a doodle Bob has drawn he believes that the two of them are meant to head into Iraq together as part of his mission. As they go into Iraq where they will have to deal with local insurgents, trigger-happy 'contractors' and finally Lyn's nemesis from his army days; Bob reads Lyn's diary and we see how the New Earth Army came to be and was later disbanded. Bob is understandably sceptical about Lyn's talk of psychic powers and soon regrets going with him although as Lyn says, 'it is his destiny'.
Ewan McGregor does a good job as Bob but George Clooney stole the show as Lyn; he played the role dead straight making him far funnier than if he'd played it for laughs. Even the secondary characters were played by well-known actors including Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and Robert Patrick. It was fairly clear early on that things were be played for laughs Clooney referred to the men of the New Earth Army as Jedi and Ewan 'Obi Wan Kenobi' McGregor had no idea what he meant! There isn't too much to offend people in this film although the language is quite strong in places and there is a brief scene featuring topless women; the camera never lingered though. I wasn't too keen on the very last scene as it gave the answer to the question 'are they really able to do the things Lyn claimed', I'd have preferred it if that was left up to the viewer; it is however a minor quibble and I'd recommend this to anybody wanting to watch something a little different and have a laugh.