The Men Who Stare at Goats (Grant Heslov, 2009)

With: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey

Plot: A down-on-his-luck journalist (McGregor) follows a man (Clooney) who claims to be a goverment psychic soldier, reactivated for a mysterious new mission under the command of hippy squad leader Bill Django (Bridges).

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I suppose it is a fairly interesting story, however much is true, but as a comedy its a bit of a failure. Heslov adapts the clinicallly humorous slideshow style of directors like Alexander Payne and Jason Reitman, but fills them with nothing worth watching. That's perhaps a bit harsh, as the film is a pleasant enough watch with a perfectly cast (if underused) Bridges and Clooney having fun as we wonder whether his character is insane or a genius. There's an air of self-satisfaction about the whole thing though, as if it thinks it is satirising the story rather than just ploddingly telling it with awkwardly packed flashbacks. By the end the film wants you to believe that a transformative journey ending with a cathartic epiphany has taken place, but it's too muddled and (I suspect) meaningless to know what all the fuss is about. Such an unusual story deserves more than a lightweight road movie.

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