Released: November 6th, 2009
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Goat
Writer/Director: Peter Straughan/Grant Heslov
Description: A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
***
Finally, a comedy that made me laugh. After the train wreck that was "Moving McAllister", it was nice to watch a well-structured comedy. It didn't hurt that "The Men Who Stare at Goats" had actual actors in each role, even the minor roles filled by Stephen Root and Stephen Lang were acted well.
Sure, the movie isn't an all-time comedy, but when the writing is good to pretty good and the acting is good to great, you have the formula for a solid movie-watching experience. From the opening scene of Bob Walton (McGregor) interviewing Gus Lacy (Root), who begins to reveal the secrets of the New Earth Army without much provoking from Walton to the final scene of a high Jeff Bridges and George Clooney flying away in a Helicopter, the entire movie takes absurd moments and makes them not cringe inducing. Sort of in the same vain as "The Big Lebowski".
Bridges, who once again is awesome as a stoner, steals the movie in the scenes he's in. If there was ever a role that fit an actor, this would be it. It's in the same vain of Keanu Reeves and Ted Logan, where the personality of your most famous character tends to slip through to your every performance. Luckily, for Bridges, he's a good enough actor that it's not as noticeable in his more Oscar worthy performances.
The meat of the movie is great comedic chemistry between McGregor and Clooney. These two appeared to be having a lot of fun with the characters and this came through in their performances. It's more than just being able read your lines, the actor needs to nail the nuances of the role, which both do to perfection. There are moments where you literally believe that Clooney's character is completely out of his mind, and that McGregor's is petrified for his life. If this relationship failed, the entire movie would crumble.
It is not a flawless movie by any means, there are moments that make me scratch my head. Maybe it's sacrilege, but the goat bit really didn't resonate with me. I know what the meaning behind it was, but I didn't find it all that funny. And Kevin Spacey's character was a bit of a throw away because it felt like they needed a villain so bad that they made it the most cliched one they could. He was good in the role, but I think it could have done without it. Even if they just had a change in leadership, and that's what disbanded the New Earth Army, would have sufficed for me.
My enjoyment of this film was probably enhanced by my viewing of "Moving McAllister" prior to this, but nonetheless it was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. It won't be on anyone's top-ten list, but it's not something that set the industry back decades, either.
Rating: 6.5/10 -- Good performances keep this movie entertaining enough that I wasn't checking the counter ever ten minutes.
Bridges, who once again is awesome as a stoner, steals the movie in the scenes he's in. If there was ever a role that fit an actor, this would be it. It's in the same vain of Keanu Reeves and Ted Logan, where the personality of your most famous character tends to slip through to your every performance. Luckily, for Bridges, he's a good enough actor that it's not as noticeable in his more Oscar worthy performances.
The meat of the movie is great comedic chemistry between McGregor and Clooney. These two appeared to be having a lot of fun with the characters and this came through in their performances. It's more than just being able read your lines, the actor needs to nail the nuances of the role, which both do to perfection. There are moments where you literally believe that Clooney's character is completely out of his mind, and that McGregor's is petrified for his life. If this relationship failed, the entire movie would crumble.
It is not a flawless movie by any means, there are moments that make me scratch my head. Maybe it's sacrilege, but the goat bit really didn't resonate with me. I know what the meaning behind it was, but I didn't find it all that funny. And Kevin Spacey's character was a bit of a throw away because it felt like they needed a villain so bad that they made it the most cliched one they could. He was good in the role, but I think it could have done without it. Even if they just had a change in leadership, and that's what disbanded the New Earth Army, would have sufficed for me.
My enjoyment of this film was probably enhanced by my viewing of "Moving McAllister" prior to this, but nonetheless it was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. It won't be on anyone's top-ten list, but it's not something that set the industry back decades, either.
Rating: 6.5/10 -- Good performances keep this movie entertaining enough that I wasn't checking the counter ever ten minutes.
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