Watch it once, put it back on the shelf, then watch it again a year later

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2012)

I don't believe anyone should review The Men Who Stare at Goats before they've seen it at least twice. The first time I saw it, not long after its release to DVD, it was exactly as I feared: A Coen wannabe. Too much randomness, too little cohesion. So many flashbacks that the actual story of the film, as in what happens from McGregor and Clooney meeting, was a little too light on the ground.
I probably would not have watched it again at all, were it not for the lesson I learnt from Napoleon Dynamite. Sometimes a film is bizarre and surreal because it's topic demands it. In ND that topic is the nature of life in such a small town. In TMWSAG, the stupidity is perfectly captured when one of the characters states that "We don't really believe in any of this stuff, but the Russians are looking into it and we don't want to fall behind them". It's easy to miss this first time round when you're expecting a story first and foremost. Once you know that it's the craziness of the situation that is the point rather than what actually happens, the whole thing somehow makes far more sense.
And if nothing else, seeing what would have happened if "The Dude" had a position of authority in the army makes the film worthwhile all by itself!