"The Men Who Stare At Goats" Review

The focus of the film is on a journalist named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who has just quit his job and lost his wife. In an effort to regain some meaning in his life, he decides to travel to the Middle East to cover the war in Iraq. This is where Wilton runs into Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney), a man who Wilton later finds out is a former American soldier that was a member of the Army team known as the Jedi. The Jedi were a trained group of soldiers that used psychic powers, not violence, in order to succeed in battles.

Due to "fate," Wilton and Cassidy attempt to travel to Iraq and their journey is filled with many twists and turns, as well as plenty of storytelling and flashbacks. The constant reminiscing done by Cassidy helps Wilton, as well as the audience, understand how the Jedi came together and why Cassidy is trying to get back to the Army.

There are flashes of fantastic humor during certain points of the film, but many of those flashes can be seen in the film's commercials and trailers. The story seemed to drag in certain parts and the film, as a whole, felt as if it tried to be both a comedy and a drama simultaneously. The cast did a very good job given what they had to work with, but in general, the film didn't quite live up to it's build-up.

If you'd like to see the film for yourself, you can check it out at Red River Theatres in Concord, NH.