bizarre

Rating: 6/10 (5 November 2013)

A really great cast stars in "The Men Who Stare at Goats," a 2009 film directed by Grant Heslov. George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey -- an exceptional group, with a screenplay by Peter Straughan.
An unlucky in love, depressed reporter (Ewan McGregor) goes to join the war in Iraq and meets a special forces agent, Lyn Cassady (Clooney). Cassady tells him a wild story about a psychic division of the military that is trained to do remote viewing and whose mission is to end the violence of war.
This is a great premise for a film, but it isn't done particularly well. There seems to have been no decision as to whether it was a comedy or drama. With a focus either way, the elements could have been mixed well, because there are some hilarious moments as well as some very dramatic moments. The problem is, you don't know how to react, so the experience is discomfiting.
I don't like animal abuse shown or talked about, even though the peace and love character played by Jeff Bridges as well as Lyn don't like that aspect of their work. I realize there was no real abuse, but what was talked about was pretty gross.
The performances are very good, with Clooney saying the most outrageous things with complete commitment and intensity, Bridges doing a character similar to what he played in Big Lebowski, McGregor dazed and confused, and Spacey as an ambitious guy who hopes to use the group toward his own ends. But they're all better than this material.
Could have been much better and much stronger.