Review: Men Who Stare at Goats

Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is a down and out journalist. In order to prove his worth as not just a reporter but as a human being, he goes to the Middle East to try and report on some of the dealings going on to do with the current war. Instead, he finds Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who is an ex-member of secret military organization developing alternative methods of fighting war using superpowers and peace. The two journey into the desert reminiscening about the "good ole days" and the secret mission they currently find themselves on.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a quirky, nonsensical tale. George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges all perform as one would think. They effortless become these overly-quirky characters so very unlike their uber-cool characters they have known to play. It is part of what makes them great actors. In addition, a lot of the jokes were really superb characterized by great dialog and equally, if not better timing.

Unfortunately, it just does not click. The movie is a plot that never goes anywhere. A greatest hits montage of this movie would probably be one of the best, but at feature length it struggles to find meaning and pacing. While Clooney, Bridges, and Spacey perform admirably, they are definitely on comfortable ground, taking steps back from greater performances they have already achieved. While Ewan McGregor who has proven himself a number of times calls in his performance as possibly one of the blandest characters to ever be put to celluloid.

4/10. I laughed a few times, but it mostly felt like an amateur filmmaker trying desperately to be like the Coen brothers.

First Impressions

Here's a new thing I am going to try. Basically what I think about a particular trailer

Zombieland

Zombieland is definitely the next movie that I am most excited to see. As seen in Shaun of the Dead and Fido, zombies have great untapped comedic potential. Jesse Eisnberg is basically Michael Cera but better. Woody Harrelson is in his wheelhouse. Emma Stone is kinda hot and pretty badass.

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

Looks like much of the same of the original, and I dig it. Except for the obviously absent Willem Dafoe and the visually puffy eyed, getting too old for Hollywood look of Sean Patrick Flannery. This movie looks pretty good. I mean, holy shit is that Judd Nelson? Is that Peter Fonda? Is that Rocco!? (1:30) Plus Billy Connely is back, as are the Boston cops, and an addition of the very hot Julie Benz.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Considering George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey are individually hilarious actors for being non-stand-ups, putting them together in such a ridiculous premise seems like it would be absolutely incredible.

The Daybreakers

I am always down for a vampire flick, especially when they have cool vamps with cooler slayers as opposed to the "hot" emo vampires that Twilight is creating. And this one happens to star Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill. This is one of the better paced trailers in a long while. The use of Placebo's version of "Running up That Hill" creates a fantastic tone. The vampiric monsters also displayed look pretty interesting.

Up in the Air

The trailer rests on Clooney's ability to effectively deliver a thoughtful speech, so while it is one-note, it's a pretty damn good note. Plus it also seems to have Zack Galinfinakis, Jason Bateman, and J.K. Simmons among other great performers.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

As a fan of "The Office," I am interested to see what John Krasinski can do with this first directorial effort. The movie itself looks kind of slow with a lot of emphasis on love and romance. But it's also an indie flick so the direction of those elements might be way less sappy and corny than it might be in a chick flick. Wait and see flick for sure.

Plan 9

This is a remake of Ed Wood's cult classic, but I think the filmmaker forgot why it is so loved. It is because it is so bad. And I cannot tell whether this movie is trying to improve the quality or continue the so-bad-it's-good mentality.