Great performances cant upstage this so-so Hollywood fair.

Rating: 5/10 (11 May 2010)

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a jumbled result of random events and mixed genres. Where movies like Burn After Reading can balance a serious tone with a cartoony centre, The Men Who Stare at Goats is really unsure what sort of genre it's really going for. From shoot outs to slapstick, kidnapping to carpet jumping, the movie never feels like its hitting the right spot, always going down with a soggy after taste. Same goes for the tread of plot that lingers through out its running time. Did I say plot? More like a random chain of events where one thing happens to set up someone falling over, so some other ridiculous events can take place. It's not that its uneventful, there is just no plot aim or goal. Even in the story there supposed to be just aimlessly walking about, which builds very little tension or adventure with the characters.
Having said that, this isn't all bad by any means. Great actors giving great performances, sure Kevin Spacy is a little under done and Ewan McGregor Scotsman pierces, but their having fun which makes the movie a lot more enjoyable. The main themes in this movie are really interesting and if had been developed better this could have been made into quite the cult. Instead TMWSAG is just another so-so Hollywood fair, and if the climax hadn't been left with that shoot-my-self ending, then this could easily been a comedy Cohen brothers amateur, instead, it's renown for less.
Overall: Interesting premiss set sail behind some great performances cant upstage the paper thin plot and the uneven genre spanning. Entertaining in parts, but slow in others, just another so-so Hollywood fair.