No Goats, No Glory

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS is a film about the New Earth Army, a special forces outfit that was formed in the late 70s to become essentially "Jedi Warriors." They were to use the power of Mother Earth and their own innate psychic powers against the enemy in a new and non-traditional type of warfare and in essence change the world forever.  Now this might sound a little unbelievable to all you fans of Sargent Slaughter out there but that part of it is all true. There was in fact a New Earth Army formed in the very late seventies to do exactly that, and if you don't believe me you can either read the non-fiction book of the same title upon which this movie was based or watch the interviews with two of the men involved with the unit in the special features section of the DVD.  They even had some mild success killing goats with their minds. Well, one goat. it was standing next to the one they were aiming at but it still counts. Hmmm. Anyhow  I  guess even Uncle Sam was tripping out back then. Groovy, huh?

It seems that this is the kind of movie that you either hate or you love. I'm in the love camp. I love the silliness, and I love it even more because of the reality of that silliness-- and the fact that it just breaks me up thinking about all these macho army types sitting around talking seriously about bending spoons. Those who hate the movie have one thing in common and that seems to be that the film lacks direction, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Everyone seems to like the back-story of how the unit was formed and how they trained well enough--no problems there. But after that most people claim that it comes off the tracks. And it does. The true story of the New Earth Army lacks a satisfying dramatic arc so what's a writer to do?  In this case he seems to have decided to tell the story of how a reporter became a Jedi Warrior. But he told it in such a loose manner that some of his audience was  unaware of it and others didn't get it at all.

I've thought about this for a while and I think I've figured out where the movie went wrong and unfortunately what ruined it for these many is also one of the most brilliant things about the film. How's that for a dichotomy?You see somewhere along the line (probably quite early) someone said " We should get Ewan McGregor! Who would make a better Jedi Warrior?" Perfect casting, a brilliant idea. The audience would love it, and they did love it. Except for the ones who hated it.

Maybe the Coen Brothers should have made this film.

HYPE FACTOR: Very High...second viewing necessary