Movie Review: Men Who Stare At Goats

 

 

“More of this is true than you might think.”

The statement attempts, but can never fully prepare audiences for the strange sights they are about to see.

“The Men Who Stare at Goats,” which opened in third place at the box office this weekend tells the unbelievable (maybe) true story of the First Earth Army, a top secret division of the U.S. Army whose goal is to create psychic soldiers, or Jedis.

Ewan McGregor stars as Bob Wilton, a journalist on the hunt for a story that will help him find himself again. Through a series of bizarre coincidences, Wilton meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a man who claims to have been a part of the Jedi Warriors of the First Earth Army. Cassady believes that he has been reactivated for a mission, and Wilton accompanies him on his journey, hoping for a story.

The pair encounter many interesting characters on their search for Cassady’s mission, including many goats that Cassady must free to redeem himself for killing one with his mind back when the First Earth Army was still around.

The film is as brilliant as it is strange, with witty dialogue and just the right amount of absurdity. Even after the film is over, it’s hard to decide what was just witnessed.

It’s hard to take any of the story at face value, but it’s not the events of the movie that drive its plot: it’s the simple journey to find something that can be believed in and to find something that puts you in touch with what truly makes you who you are.

And if you happen to run into a few goats along the way, well, just don’t stare at them too long.