“Men Who Stare At Goats” is another example of a neat script finding its way into George Clooney’s hands that might not have been made otherwise. Again, using the very modern backdrop of the Middle East, the plot takes advantage of a very interesting piece of information in regards to psy-ops programs back in the 70s into the 80s. In declassified papers, the Soviets were indeed trying to work on remote viewing experiments intended to explode or turn military targets inside a war zone without actually going there. Now the question as to if anything or any situation of this was successful is indeed purely speculation.
The movie, based upon the book of the same name, continues a predilection by Clooney for interesting material but he and his team realize that you can only take the audience so far. The humor in this film is meant as a balancing stick since there is dark places to go. However, in all fairness, it never goes to the dark depths it needs to. The effectiveness is grasped simply in how much of a paradox can be created in the scenario. Jeff Bridges, although good, at times overplays it. It is more towards the end when he is almost defeated that the deep voice and true angle comes out and by extension the true dramatic acting that he is always capable of. This is when he is outstanding. Clooney also has certain moments when the veneer of the star himself is shaked clean (which is a hard thing for someone in his position). One specific part is when he comes out onto a secret base defeated and is not quite sure how to handle the situation. You can see it in his eyes.
The person who gets the thankless element in all this is Ewan McGregor who must portray the audience’s eyes and ears as a man trying to find a story (which he inevitably does). There is also the incessant references to the soldiers of remote viewing as “Jedi Warriors” which undoubtedly reflects the impact of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” at the time; the paradox being that McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels. This of course does not go lost on the likes of Clooney and his co-producer/director Grant Heslov, here making his first directorial outing since that might have been what led them to McGregor initially. Life imitates art in roundabout ways. Add to the mix, in a limited supporting role, Kevin Spacey who at times shows a small glimpse of Keyser Soze, most specifically in a scene where he leers over a defeated Clooney smoking a cigar. You can see the relish the character takes in this action which is apparent when the trajectory of his character is explored. This is the kind of person Spacey is great at playing because even his angle of Lex Luthor didn’t show a glimpse of what is touched on in bits here. On top of all of this, the music is great whether it be “More Than A Feeling” by Boston or “Everybody Wants You” by Billy Squier in balance with an Arabian tinged score. This all adds a tinge of realism but also of the surreal.
From an insider perspective, the film also very spryly shows the advantages of shooting in certain locations which emulate exactly the feel of the actual place while obviously saving money on actual production costs which is the name of the game today. This film was shot in New Mexico around Albuerquerque, Roswell and White Sands but also Puerto Rico (which most likely stood in for some of the war torn towns). Both of these places offer significant incentives which shows that even bigger financial companies do have to think about the bottom line even with a cast like this. It makes it possible.
“Men Who Stare At Goats” again shows the intelligence and conscious thinking in terms of thought patterns to new generations of filmgoers but like “The Informant”, “Men Who Stare At Goats” might suffer from an aspect of being too intelligent and effective for its own good at times despite a smart script and even smarter cast. Out of 5, I give it a 3.
