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

This film talks extensively about being Jedis and using Jedi powers. Ewan McGregor played Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels.

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Goofs

In the desert "cooking dinner" scene, the placement of the silver/blue cooler is mismatched between shots. In shots facing Lyn, the cooler is within grabbing/reaching distance of him. In shots facing Bob, the cooler is 6 steps away from Lyn, near the car (Lyn is shown taking 6 steps to and from the cooler in subsequent shots).

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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

More of this is true than you would believe.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The American/Going the Distance/Machete (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Electric Voodoo Space Strawberry"
Written by Noah Lit, Sam Raver, Josh Lit and Adam Lasus
Performed by The Motha Lickas
Courtesy of Fireproof Recording

User Reviews

Terrific movie! Hilarious, smart and interesting.

I just got back from seeing "The Men Who Stare at Goats" at the Woodstock Film Festival. I walked in knowing the main plot, and I expected it to be pretty good because of the great actors it has, the premise of the story and the music used in the soundtrack. My expectations weren't only met, but they were greatly exceeded.

The story follows a broken-hearted journalist (McGregor) who goes on the job to Iraq to prove to his ex-wife he isn't weak or frail. There, he meets Lyn Cassidy (Clooney) who is a "psychic" soldier for the US government, trained by his hippie instructor Billy (Bridges) to use his mind, peace and love to overcome hairy military situations. The story is the two mens' adventure together.

The movie is essentially broken down into I'd say 3 parts. The first part is the main story of the journalist and Lyn as they travel in Iraq on a special mission Lyn is on. The second is the very humorous back-story of the history of the creation and existence of the "psychic soldiers" of the military. When I say "back-story" and "history" I mean the main background to Lyn and Billy's character, as well as the main antagonist of the story, played by Kevin Spacey. The third part is the first person narration provided by Ewen McGregor about the things that are going on. He offers insight into his mind and opinions on the things he says and of himself and Lyn as the story progresses.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a very hilarious movie, with many quotable lines and excellent acting by the entire cast. The story is very unique and the film uses that as a great advantage to itself in setting up the humor. The characters are very real and are taken to heart right away. The film is funny, intriguing, smart, witty, fast-paced, emotional, enjoyable and inspirational. I highly recommend it to any Ewen McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey or Jeff Bridges fan, for fans of those men will not be disappointed with the acting and mannerisms of the characters those actors portrayed.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a very fun movie to see in theaters and everyone in my audience were cracking up laughing many, many times. It is a movie for casual movie goers and film aficionados alike. Go see it.

8.5/10