Somewhat true tale of ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ is stranger
than fiction
When it comes to the plot in
”
The Men Who Stare at Goats,
”
it seems about as plausible as the storyline in most romantic
comedies or sci-fi films. But the movie is actually supposed to be
based on a book by British writer Jon Ronson about the U.S.
military’s attempted use of psychic abilities in warfare
– a non-fiction book.
The movie starts out with a line of text on the screen that is
similar in sentiment to the first line of the book
–
”
More of this is true than you will believe.
”
Somewhat true tale of ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ is stranger than fiction
When it comes to the plot in “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” it seems about as plausible as the storyline in most romantic comedies or sci-fi films. But the movie is actually supposed to be based on a book by British writer Jon Ronson about the U.S. military’s attempted use of psychic abilities in warfare – a non-fiction book.
The movie starts out with a line of text on the screen that is similar in sentiment to the first line of the book – “More of this is true than you will believe.”
The movie creators got that one right.
The title refers to attempts to use mind power to stare at goats and stop their hearts, something Ronson’s book says the military really tried to teach troops to do.
When it comes to the government and the military anything is possible, I guess.
Peter Straughan created the screenplay from the book and Grant Heslov directed it into a very funny satire about the military complex.
Ewan McGregor steps into Ronson’s shoes in the movie as the reporter who stumbles upon the military’s psychic experiments. McGregor plays Bob Wilton, a Michigan reporter who is content working at his small-town paper.
When he goes on an assignment to interview Gus Lacey, a local man who claims to have psychic abilities on a radio show, Wilton blows him off as a kook when Lacey claims he killed his hamster with his mind. He tells Wilton of the top-secret Special Forces unit where he honed his skills and names two of the best psychics with whom he had worked. But Wilton doesn’t follow up on the story, believing Lacey is just a nut.
Wilton finds his life thrown for a loop, however, when his pretty wife leaves him for his editor. In order to prove himself to her, he decides to head off to Iraq as a freelance journalist. He is in Kuwait City, waiting to get approval to cross the border, when he happens to notice a man sitting at the table next to him. The guy introduces himself as Skip (George Clooney). But Wilton notices the guy’s nametag says Lyn Cassady, the name of one of the best psychics in the military, according to Lacey.
Cassady agrees to take Wilton across the border into Iraq, but Wilton soon discovers the psychic hasn’t been entirely honest with him. Cassady says he isn’t really working as a private contractor, but that he has been reactivated for a special mission.
Though Cassady claims to have psychic abilities, he isn’t able to predict the trouble that seems to always be just around the corner for the pair as they wander through the desert. In fact, his psychic ability seems to be causing them some of the trouble, as in a scene where Cassady claims he is bursting clouds with his mind. He keeps looking up at the sky instead of the road, and then drives the car straight into a rock – the only rock within thousands of miles on a long, flat dusty road.
Clooney plays Cassady as a guy who completely buys into the psychic stuff, and the work he did with the military, even when his own psychic abilities seem to be failing him. He has excitability about him every time he shares something new with Wilton, like a kid on open gifts on Christmas.
But the detours provide time for Cassady to recall his experiences in the military, which are portrayed through flashbacks.
The whole psychic movement begins when Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), a Vietnam soldier turned hippy starts the “New Earth Army” (Ronson writes about the First Earth Battalion in his book,) a special battalion in the army that is focused on learning to harness psychic abilities. Django believes that people can learn to use their minds instead of weapons to stop war. He also believes these powers can be enhanced by experimenting with plenty of drugs and letting loose through dancing or listening to music.
Bridges is a perfect fit for the long-haired, hippy dippy Django, and even better when he plays the current-era Django whose brain is fried from all those drugs. Kevin Spacey, who has a smaller role in the movie as Larry Hooper, also does well as a sort of bad guy. Spacey just has a way of portraying a jerk with just a look – he doesn’t have to say a word.
It’s hard to know what is real in the movie and what is fiction, but it’s told in a funny enough way that makes it doesn’t really matter.
