The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.

Director:

Grant Heslov

Writers:

Peter Straughan (screenplay), Jon Ronson (book)

Stars:

George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Lyn Cassady
Ewan McGregor	...	Bob Wilton
Jeff Bridges	...	Bill Django
Kevin Spacey	...	Larry Hooper
Stephen Lang	...	Brigadier General Dean Hopgood
Robert Patrick	...	Todd Nixon
Waleed Zuaiter	...	Mahmud Daash
Stephen Root	...	Gus Lacey
Glenn Morshower	...	Major General Holtz
Nick Offerman	...	Scotty Mercer
Tim Griffin	...	Tim Kootz
Rebecca Mader	...	Debora Wilton
Jacob Browne	...	Lieutenant Boone
Todd Lawson LaTourrette	...	Dave (as Todd Latourrette)
Brad Grunberg	...	Ron

Storyline

A reporter, trying to lose himself in the romance of war after his marriage fails, gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to end war as we know it. The founder of the unit has gone missing and the trail leads to another psychic soldier who has distorted the mission to serve his own ends.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | reference to bart simpson | kidnapping | improvised explosive device | doodling | 

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Taglines:

No goats. No glory.

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cho (Minmanghan) Neungnyeokjadeul

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,211,791 (UK) (6 November 2009)

Gross:

$32,416,109 (USA) (29 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Smokehouse Pictures, Westgate Film Services

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeff Bridges' character Bill Django seems to be based around US Military Remote Viewing project originator Captain "Skip" Atwater. References to Django's fixation with altered states of consciousness throughout the film seem to poke fun at Capt. Atwater's interests in the Monroe Institute and what some might call the "pseudo yogic" early cognition workshops done there.

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Goofs

In the Ft. Bragg scene dated 1980, portraits of both President Reagan and Defense Secretary Weinberger can be seen hanging on the wall; although elected in 1980, Reagan was not sworn in until 1981 and soon thereafter appointed Weinberger.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brigadier General Dean Hopgood: [with great concentration] Boone.
Lieutenant Boone: Yes sir?
Brigadier General Dean Hopgood: I'm going into the next office.
Lieutenant Boone: Yes sir.
Brigadier General Dean Hopgood: [breaks into a sprint, slams into the wall, falls over] Damn it.

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Crazy Credits

Although this film is inspired by John Ronson's Book The Men Who Stare At Goats, it is a fiction, and while the characters Lynn Cassady and Bill Django are based on actual persons, Sergeant Glenn Wheaton and Colonel Jim Channon, all other characters are invented or are composites and are not portrayals of actual persons. The filmmakers ask that no one attempt walking through walls, cloudbursting while driving, or staring for hours at goats with the intent of harming them... invisibility is fine.

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Connections

Referenced in Tosh.0: Season 3 Web Reflection (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Freres Jacques"
Traditional
Arranged by Barbie McDonald
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

User Reviews

Clooney At His Finest, But Not Anything Special

While doing his boring job as a reporter-journalist, one man stumbles upon the existence of an old military secret: a branch of soldiers trained in harnessing their mental superpowers. Coincidentally, after heading off to Iraq for an inside scoop on the 2003 war, he meets another member of this secret group and his misadventures begin.

There's some weird obsession with "Star Wars" in this film. Besides the obvious talk of Jedi Warriors, there's a scene early on where the main character makes a reference to blonde farm boy, which is clearly meant to be Luke Skywalker. (What's interesting is that later the guy claims to have not seen the movies, so it's odd that he would make cryptic references.)

I cannot say enough about the amazing cast. Ewan MacGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and George Clooney, among others. The most disappointing thing about this film is that with such an amazing cast that you would think this would be the year's blockbuster, but actually will more than likely be no more than a blip on the cinematic radar.

I don't know what's up with Roger Ebert and his Lebowski obsession. In his review, he repeatedly says that Lebowski fans will like this one and that Jeff Bridges plays his role as Lebowski playing a military man. Well, I could see some Lebowski in there, and like that other film, they both involve Iraq. But, really, I see Lebowski when I see Jeff Bridges, so that's not really a stretch. Ebert really took it beyond the necessarily bounds.

Ultimately, the film comes up short. With this cast, as I said, I expect something more. There is humor, but it's here and there. And even the plot, which is interesting, doesn't really seem to be as strong as it should be. A good film, and one I recommend to George Clooney fans, but not a hidden treasure.