The Men Who Stare at Goats

It's no secret that U.S. military intelligence has been working on ways to harness the paranormal to combat its enemies, and this surreal film, inspired by Jon Ronson's 2004 nonfiction bestseller, tackles the unlikely subject in an absurdly satirical fashion. The far-fetched tale begins when Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a journalist eager to get into Iraq after the 2002 invasion, hears a story about top-secret ESP experts trained to kill animals by staring at them; the most gifted of these spies is Lyn Cassady, who has since disappeared. In Kuwait City, looking for a new angle on the war, Wilton befriends a man named Skip (George Clooney), who purports to be an Arkansas salesman but is really Cassady, on a super-secret black-ops mission for the New Earth Army, a group of “warrior monks” formed in 1979 by a Vietnam vet turned New Age hippie, Lt. Col. Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), who insists, “We must be the first superpower to have super powers.” When Cassady crosses the border into Iraq, Wilton tags along; but the two become lost in the desert, are kidnapped by insurgents and traded by terrorists, and wind up in the secret New Earth Army training camp headed by villainous Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey). Written by Peter Straughan and directed by Grant Heslov (who collaborated with Clooney in writing Good Night, and Good Luck), The Men Who Stare at Goats is a fragmented, overtly anti-military spoof occasionally reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove and M.A.S.H., with Clooney and McGregor keeping their cool while Spacey and Bridges go berserk. Recommended, overall. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first by Grant Heslov; the second by writer Jon Ronson, whose book inspired the film), a “Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion” featurette (13 min.), a “Project ‘Hollywood': A Classified Report from the Set” featurette with interviews of costars Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey (8 min.), character bios (5 min.), deleted scenes (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a decent satire.] (S. Granger)