Director: Grant Heslov
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey
Review: 3.5 stars (of five)
A book and BBC documentary produced the story of research into psychic powers and hippie attitudes in the U.S. military, part of a soul-searching period in the wake of defeat in Vietnam. If you watch the first episode of the BBC show (on YouTube in five parts, start here), you meet the startlingly accurate counterparts of many of the weirdos in this movie. (The film starts with a note, “More of this is true than you would believe,” and if you watch the YouTube stuff after seeing the film, you’ll be kinda stunned.)
Added to this apparent reality, fictionalized here, but thinly, is a modern-day story in Iraq. Ewan McGregor is a lost young newspaper reporter trying to prove himself as a war correspondent. He hooks up with “psi-ops” veteran George Clooney, and desert hijinks ensue. The film cuts between the Iraq war circa 2002 and flashbacks, narrated by McGregor, to the acid-fried “New Earth Army,” a bunch of “Jedi masters,” “warrior monks,” and general nutjobs. 
The story becomes McGregor’s quest for himself, Clooney’s quest for redemption, and a fuzzy commentary on such national disgraces as Abu Ghraib and the “military contractors” running amok in our war zones.
That’s where the film doesn’t quite deliver. If you’re going to touch on American atrocities and the tragic losses on both sides, in a war that’s still going on, you’re maybe obligated to deliver a really sharp and pointed satire. Instead, we’re given an entertaining story with a deep bench of acting talent and a lot of moments to ponder, but they don’t add up to, you know, M.A.S.H. for a new generation or anything. That disappointment aside, the film is an absurd road picture that entertains.
Director Grant Heslov has a limited directing resume, but he has a long, low-key acting history, including a decent role in Good Night and Good Luck, directed by Clooney, a producer on this pic. He does a good job moving the picture along and letting his cast entertain. Jeff Bridges essentially recreates his role as The Dude from The Big Lebowski, and is therefore delightful. Kevin Spacey plays a “failed science fiction writer” named Larry Hooper who becomes the snake in the New Earth Army’s garden, McGregor is his now-standard bland, feckless self, and Clooney does what he does best, play an outsider, a slightly shady loser, trying to make good. This cast is what saves the loose movie, making it feel less like a mess, and more like a mellow jam among top-of-their-game performers.
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(You know, the Spacey thing: I can think of another “failed science fiction writer” who cynically dabbled in the mystical or paranormal, was big on the self-aggrandizing, and had a name that sounds a little like “L. Hooper.” Can’t be an accident — and yet, it doesn’t add up to any kind of commentary at all. A smaller example of the film having many fun elements that don’t necessarily go anywhere.)
The youtube link isn’t any good. it says it was removed.
You want to ban divorce? How would you feel if your wife, the mother of your kids, was screwing your next door neighbor? How would you feel about divorce then?
OK, so let me ask you this David. What if your wife, before you married her, was in a car accident and in a hospital with minutes to live. You approach the Dr, and he says, sorry, you can’t visit because you are not married. She dies and you did not get to say your final good bye.
You want to not ban divorce? How would you feel if you had a sense of irony and a grasp of the larger issues at play? How would you feel about not banning divorce then?
I love the idea. How can I help?
I’d love to help ban divorce. We need to do everything we can as Americans to defend and preserve the sanctity of marriage.
Oh dear Scott I love how you and thousands of other people think you know what is right and what is wrong and don’t care if you destroy thousands of other peoples chances of happiness by banning gay marriages and the right to leave your husband or wife. Let’s not take in to consider the people who are getting abused and beat by their spouse and may want to divorce. Yay! All of the people who think they’re right and know what America needs. Yet I doubt half of them are looking at every party and angle of the “big picture.”
Sue,
Just like the Catholic Church will give annulments if something like that was taking place, I’m sure there will be a clause like that. Of course it will probably have to be proven. However, we cannot allow something like this (divorce) to take place! We are smashing our vows in G-ds face when we do! Pretty much saying, “You know G-d, I don’t really care what you think, or what I promised! I’m going to do what I WANT to do!”
What a crock!
I know that this whole thing is meant as a ‘in your face’ kind of thing (since the Prop 8), because this will never pass. However, I would have no issues voting for this!
Maybe you are the one that isn’t looking at the ‘big picture’ Sue. Of all marriages that end in divorce, how many are because of abuse? How many are because, “I just don’t feel like it anymore?”
Don’t get yourself all worked up because people have opinions… We are entitled to believe the way we do, just as you are. So don’t be condescending to those whose opinions don’t match your own. Not only is it rude, but it’s really childish…
Personally, I don’t understand why the government has any authority over Marriage or Divorce. In theory, it’s SUPPOSED to be a very spiritual occasion, a joining of two before the Divine. That’s why people of all religions do it in a very spiritual setting, right? Well, if people want to preserve the sanctity of marriage, why not just ban government authority all together? The only reason the government started to have any connection to it was because of little details like name changes, and tax records. Things of that nature. But people slowly started to give the government more control over marriage over time, until now it’s no longer spiritual to some people. You can get married in a drive through in vegas, meanwhile others who live together and don’t want to be Married are stuck with “common law marriages” And with movements such as Banning Gay Marriage or Banning Divorce, that only reinforces the power the government has over spiritual affairs. What ever happened to the separation of church and state? I say Ban Government Involvement, let them keep records for tax purposes, but don’t let Uncle Sam have any control over your spiritual lives. Let your given religion decide if you can get Married or Divorced. If you don’t like the choice of your priest, you can choose another faith. Leave the Government out of Religious affairs all together. As far as I am concerned, the Sanctity of died the moment the Government entered the equation.
tell me how i can get the ban divorce t-shirts .. I want to support this effort.. I think if nothing else it just may keep some from making big mistakes and make parents more resonsible for being better role models too.. just glad I got my divorce before this or one of us might be on death row by now.. giggles and grins..
How did we go from ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ to banning divorce? Stay on topic people.
I think it’s because there wasn’t a place to comment over there and people really wanted to talk about it, then when one or two people said something about it, everyone else feels it’s OK.
I love how the American public feels it is alright to try and decide what is right and wrong. So you tell me, that if your wife if screwing half of the guys at her job and your best friend, you should still be forced to honor that “until death does us part”? I mean get real. Waa Waa they banned gay marriage, there is NOTHING natural about men having sex with men or women having sex with women. You cannot expect to ban divorces just to show that they shouldnt have banned fudge packers from being married. Apples and Oranges bro, Apples and Oranges.
But what did you think about this movie? That’s what we really want to know.
Glad you’re not stakin’ out a position on what’s right and wrong, Will …
Hey William…..if not “US” – THE AMERICAN PUBLIC…then who should decide for us ?????
I didnt see the movie. I saw the postings
and that is why i responded to them and not the damn movie. Did you see it? Is it worth it to see this movie? I am in the Army and thinking of going into the field of mind killings myself.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I heard about the PSI for quite a few years. From what I understand, soldiers who have had near death experiences or visions often get recruited after a psychological evaluation because it’s easier to train them. But this isn’t always the case. When my Uncle was in the Navy, he told a vision to his Military Pasteur, and a few days later it happened. Nothing really came from that. So I guess they are very selective. I consider myself to be a Psychic, and once while trying to see into a military base someone else’s face suddenly popped into my head and somehow blocked me from seeing. I haven’t seen anyone kill with their mind, but I certainly believe that at the very least the government uses Psychics to both spy on other nations and protect national secrets. I want to see this movie because I want to know how close it is to the truth. I hope it has more factual references than comical ones.
I have never heard of mind killings but:
“The overall remote viewing program was officially disbanded in 1995. At this time, many of the members of the current unit were reaching retirement age, so there was a danger of this method leaking out, which could be potentially embarrassing for the government. In response to these circumstances, the CIA released a paper called the AIR Report by Edwin C. May, Ph.D., which explained that though there was an observable phenomenon, it was not reliable enough to continue using in intelligence work.”
“The bottom line, is that [the government intelligence agencies] know it is a cheap and effective intelligence tool, and they, at the very least, can back it up with intelligence gained in the field by conventional means. At this moment in history, it is important to use every tool to combat the terror threat. I think that many in law enforcement and investigation are now willing – when they were not before Sept. 11 – to leave no investigative stone unturned.”
Are you nuts) my first wife was a
{paranoid schizophrenic manic-depressive} and didn’t bother telling this info before we got married. My now second wife is a narcissistic control freak as one psychotherapist put is along with her entire family, because narcissistic tendencies are gotten from the parents at young ages.
So now I’ve got past that point, without crying… I have lost everything twice in my life. My second wife walked out on me over a year ago, leaving me with her 85 year-old father to take care of for over a year, her narcissistic family didn’t think there was enough damage being done to me so without even letting me say goodbye to him… behind my back they snuck him off stuck him on an airplane to Arkansas and put him in a home.
I really do believe in marriage. I still want to get remarried again. Only this time with a full psychological profile done on whoever I’d marry.
I think that is the key having a full psychological profile and background check of any drug alcohol or other problems that might crop up in the marriage and cause the marriage damage needs to be done.
Think this through again! ok!
Regarding the Men Who Stare @ Goats….this is real stuff here folks ! Remote viewing has been going on for some time. Read David Morehouse’s “Psychic Warriors” or any of the Ed Dames stuff! The latter’s group has even seen some BIG changes in the future of the planet which seems to agree w/the apocalyptic predictions coming from tons of sources. Pretty interesting & CAN BE TAUGHT !!!
You people who think this garbage is real are high and need to be commited. Maybe Obama’s healthcare plan can help you out.
Maybe you should get an education before committing to an opinion.
Try reading up on Quantum Mechanics, which explains how the mind interacts with the environment. Simply observing a particle changes the nature of it, and it has already been proven that Photosynthesis, Neurons, and Mitochondria all use a process similar to that of a Quantum Computer in order to reach such efficiency in the moving of electrons.
That being said, I would be skeptical about being able to kill people with your mind, but the fact that our thoughts and intentions directly affect the world around us is indisputable.
You watch too much SciFi!! Go out into the real world, you might see those aliens you are looking for!
Can we please just ban William already. His trolling is not productive.
I am not trolling, you are stupid!
Definition of: trolling
(1) Surfing, or browsing, the Web.
(2) Posting derogatory messages about sensitive subjects on newsgroups and chat rooms to bait users into responding.
(3) Hanging around in a chat room without saying anything, like a “peeping tom.”
Most people would regard definition two when accusing someone of being a troll. If you go strictly by that definition then you are a troll William.
If, on the other hand, you have a negative opinion of a person or belief, then presenting supporting evidence is generally the polite way of doing it.
For example, accusing me of watching too much scifi, even after I quoted official CIA records is an example of trolling. But if you doubt those words, there are other ways to phrase it.
In practice, trolling only ever really makes the views of those you argue against seem even more thought out because they are placed in contrast.
In addition to this, name calling is generally regarded as juvenile by most.
Geez Louise William !? So hostile ? The world is made up of different opinions….some of them informed!!! What makes you so uptight & disrespectful of others?
I am so not uptight. you can sense emotions from my typing? WOW, you are good! STFU please!
Hi William, I don’t even know what STFU means? It’s not the typing that I’m concerned about – but your WORDS that call others names like STUPID, HIGH, SHOULD BE COMMITTED! Ranting & name calling is thought of as uptight behavior by civilized people. I’ve never called anyone stupid in my lifetime because if I really thought that, I would feel sorry for that person, not angry with them ? Perhaps you were raised in an angry household, but you can overcome that!
Once you say your peace to someone acting like that the best way to handle them is to just not say anything more.
Hi Elliander, BIG THX for advancing the conversation by informing not by being hostile & rude !!! I took a class given by the aforementioned David Morehouse & it was pretty cool! He feels he came by his psychic abilities when he was shot in the line of duty. His helmet protected him but gave him quite a jolt & things were changed thereafter. I venture into these chats very seldom because it usually ends w/some uptight losing it on most everybody & thus the productive discourse is sadly over !? Inform on please !
Hi Elliander, BIG THX for advancing the conversation by informing, not by being hostile & rude!!! I took a class given by David Morehouse & it was pretty cool! He feels he came by his abilities when he was shot in the line of duty. His helmet protected him but it gave him quite a jolt & things were changed thereafter. I venture into these chats very seldom because it usually ends w/some uptight losing it on most everybody & thus the productive discourse is sadly over!? Inform on, please !!!
There is no productive discourse. You think people can do things that they cannot. Do you not think that if the military could actually do this, we would have gotten Bin Laden already? I mean seriously, think what you are saying. No i am not an angry person. But i see from your psycho, i mean psychic abilities, you can read into these words and sense the hostility in the tone of my typing? I am dumbfounded by this skill. Seriously elliander and karen, you should get checked out. Maybe the aliens probed you and put a GPS tracker into your head or something.
NO SERIOUSLY, GET SO REAL MEDICAL HELP BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE AND YOU DO SOMETHING SMART, LIKE KILL YOURSELF.
I hope you have not yet procreated. Good god that would be terrible. People like you were meant to be swallowed!
STFU = Shut The F*ck Up
Hey, hey, hey, people. … We at badmouth central love us a good debate, and are frankly too busy to rigorously police a comments section we assume is being populated by reasonable grownups (it is, after all, the Internet.)
I know that the subject of this post (a George Clooney movie) is the kind of thing we all have very strong feelings about, but I’d like to ask everyone to keep the discourse reasonably polite and respectful.
We wouldn’t want feelings to get hurt, or to force John (who’s way swamped with his statewide marital crusade) or me (who hates playing the heavy) to become official voices of reason. That would just be too weird.
Thanks, everyone.
William please take a chill pill before going off on anyone else!? Seriously, consider some counseling to deal w/your anger & disrespect of others & their opinions!!! You must be very lonely w/an attitude like that!
WOW, another person who can tell emotion from text. How do you do it? Is it the psycho err i mean psychic ability?
Hi William, FYI…..most of us (except truly insensitive individuals?)glean meaning from words directed at them.
Yes, you are right – if you wrote: “%hnm+!@#$” then your text would be hard to understand & find meaning in. However, if you used words like stupid, psycho, high, etc. your disrespectful message is loud & clear ! What don’t you get about that?
Maybe you should pick a fight w/your father or those individuals who raised you to be like this & leave the rest of us & our opinions alone ??? Happy Holidays !
Because you are crazy to believe this stuff. Dont tell the little green guy behind you that i said he was fake, and dont telepathically tell your mom i said you really cant talk to her that way. I dont want those 2 mad at me.