Men Who Stare at Goats

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Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity

Length: 90 minutes

Released: November 6, 2009 Nationwide

Score: 3.0

Cast: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Stephen Root

Director: Grant Heslov
Producer: George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Paul Lister
Writer: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan
Genre: Drama
Distributor: Overture Films

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A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” and it all starts with the disclaimer that opens the movie: “More of this is true than what you might imagine.”

This wry comment serves as a nod and a wink from the filmmakers, a license to do what they will to Jon Ronson’s amusing nonfiction account of the U.S. military’s hush-hush research into psychic warfare.

What Clooney’s producing partner, first-time director Grant Heslov, and his colleagues come up with is a hit-and-miss fictional narrative on which to string some of the brightest anecdotes Ronson uncovered about efforts to create warrior monks who try to walk through walls or glare animals to death.

The priceless opening scene promises a Catch-22 or Strangelove-style satire.

But the book is a loosely connected journey from one absurdity to the next, sprouting offshoots and asides, great stand-alone burlesques and dramas that don’t lend themselves to a cohesive film.

The dramatic spine developed by screenwriter Peter Straughan jettisons much of the book’s darkest and most-compelling moments — a CIA murder plot, psychic warfare links to the Branch Davidians and the Heaven’s Gate cult suicides — in favor of a gag-laden jaunt stretching from Vietnam through the war on terror.

Delivered with goofy gusto by Clooney and co-stars Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, “Goats” is fitful, undemanding and ultimately lightweight humor.

Something of a stand-in for Ronson, McGregor’s Bob Wilton is a reporter who stumbles onto the story of the New Earth Army, founded by Vietnam vet Bill Django (Bridges), the pioneer of New Age techniques meant to give his troops a spiritual edge and superpowers to win over enemies — or wipe them out.

Django’s prize pupil is Lyn Cassady (Clooney), whom Wilton accompanies through a series of mishaps on a mission in Iraq.

Inspired by real people Ronson encountered, Cassady and Django have the scent of authenticity about them. Not so with Wilton and his awkward, ill-defined motivations for uncovering the story, or with Spacey’s Larry Hooper, a psychic rival to Cassady who’s a stiff contrivance meant to add tension.

In fits and starts, director Heslov captures a lot of the drolly incredulous spirit of the book. It’s just too bad the dots don’t connect better.

© 2009, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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