The Men Who Stare At Goats

George Clooney is a military psychic spy on a secret mission in The Men Who Stare At Goats.

In the film, directed by Grant Heslov, reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is investigating a story of a top secret military organization who trained psychic soldiers.

A story that comes together once McGregor interviews Lyn Cassidy (Clooney), the top special ops recruit who trained to develop a parapsychological skills including: invisibility, remote viewing, cloud bursting, walking through walls and intuition.

The group, referred to as the New Earth Army, is led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) developed the idea for the New Earth Army due to a vision he received after getting shot during the Vietnam War.

Later in the 80's a rivalry develops between Cassidy and Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), as Cassidy wanted to emphasize on the positive side of the psychic teachings, Hooper was more interested in the dark side of the philosophy.

When Cassidy tells Wilton that he is been reactivated and on a secret mission in Iraq to locate Django, Wilton decides to come with Cassidy, a trek that turned Wilton's story into one crazy adventure that included the discovery of a private research firm led by Hooper and Django as an employee and Cassidy admitting to Wilton that in order to test the limit of his mental abilities he was asked to stop a goat's heart.

First off, this movie had one of the most awkward titles I ever seen, but I really did like this film which amazingly was based on a true story.

The story was great throughout and quite silly at times, and I found out interesting that the soldiers referenced to as "Jedis" and Ewan McGregor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels featured in the same movie.

This movie may make some PETA or Animal Rights members upset, with the goat scene, so if that's the case this might not be your movie.

This movie was dark at times, but it as similar as another Clooney film Burn After Reading, a dark comedy highlighted with an solid all-star cast.

The lead actors had some great comedic chemistry on screen, and Bridges performance of Django reminded of his greatest character (in my opinion) The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Spacey's character was surprising hilarious, as he known more for his dramatic roles such as in his academy award winning performance in American Beauty.

Clooney, in my view, is one of today's best actors who never gets the recognition he deserves although he has earned academy award nominations in the past. It's a shame that his performances in both Burn After Reading and Men Who Stare At Goats will miss the Oscar vote.

In a winter, of lackluster films, The Men Who Stare At Goats stands out as one of the best of not the winter but of the year.

Next time on the Reel Revue, my review for A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey.