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I saw "The Men Who Stare At Goats" on Saturday, and I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.
Actually, that's part of the reason I haven't updated my blog all weekend - I was trying to gather my thoughts about the movie. Also, I was on vacation.
On one hand, I had a good time watching it, and it really had some funny parts. On the other hand, its off-kilter story and strange, dark humor knocked me for a loop, and I still haven't really recovered.
The movie follows the story of newspaper reporter, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), as he learns about a top-secret military project exploring the possibilities of utilizing strange paranormal powers. It starts when Wilton interviews a man who purports to be an ex-member of this project, called the New Earth Army, led by the quirky Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). But the fun really starts while Wilton is in Kuwait waiting to get into Iraq and meets another First Earth Battalion member, Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). Wilton joins Cassady on a trip into Iraq where he learns more about what the men, nicknamed Jedi Knights, researched, including psychic spying, cloudbursting, remote viewing, invisibility and walking through walls. And, of course, killing goats by staring at them, hence the title. He also learns about the Cassady's struggles against another recruit, Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), who wanted to use their powers for more dark purposes.
The odd story meanders quite a bit, and at times I really wasn't sure where the movie was heading. Parts of the movie were very, very funny, and other parts were very, very confusing. It was an occasionally funny, often confusing trip. Maybe I'm just too stupid to figure out the overarching point of "The Men Who Stare at Goats," but I couldn't really figure out what it was about. Or maybe there was no goal or point to the movie. Maybe it was just meant to be a long, strange, meandering trip without much of a point.
I think I kind of liked "The Men Who Stared at Goats," but I'm not entirely sure. If I see it again on DVD, or somebody enlightens me with what the point of the movie was, maybe I'll have a more concrete opinion. But now, my brain just hurts.
So ... can anybody enlighten me a little more on this movie? If you can, holla back in the comments section!
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