The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

The Men Who Stare at Goats

• Horrible and goofy, yet hilarious and almost genius, and dare I say, a wee bit underrated. I certainly didn’t have any high expectations going into this, and that’s just based on looking at Rotten Tomatoes and Letterboxd. But some people don’t know how to have a good time. Now I didn’t find this super memorable or anything, so it’s not like a super undervalued comedy or anything, but I did enjoy it more than most do. I actually watched it per recommendation from a coworker, so I couldn’t have told you a single thing about it pre-watch. But post-watch, it was a fun time that served me plenty of laughs, even though it’s easy to roll your eyes at most of it. It’s a bit ‘Tropic Thunder’-esque, in a sense that it’s a “war” film while being a comedy. There’s a couple small action scenes which are cool, but everything else is more focused on non-linear storytelling through narration. For me, it works that way, though I understand if you don’t like it. The story is mildly interesting, and I’m always down for a film about government plans and secret operations. Apparently this is also based on some true events (or at least people, but I don't know how true that is), so I’m gonna be looking more into that. The writing was alright, with on-the-nose dialogue and also some cultural references that kind of ground the film, but again, it’s still very silly. Silly, but fun. The cast is stacked, with good performances from Clooney, American accent McGregor, Bridges, and others. Everyone fits their role well, and they did what they could with what they had. I can’t really think of much else to add, other than this is a cheesy film that blends action with comedy in a digestible but corny way. It’s good, not great, but if you turn off some of your brain, you can definitely enjoy it. Plus, you get to watch Ewan McGregor become a Jedi….just not THAT kind of Jedi. I would recommend this to most comedy fans.