The Men Who Stare At Goats

I went to see this movie the other night. There were four people in the theater which didn't bode well. Now it was a Monday and the weather had been good all day so I was trying not to pass early judgement. Plus - let's face it - the title is too long. I find that most of your average movie-goers only like three words in the title, maybe four if the words are short. So if this movie had been called 'The Men Who Stare'...well, you just never know.

Normally I can tell if I begrudge the price of my movie ticket or I don't. This time...this time I'm just not sure. This might be one of those movies I have to watch again to decide if I like it. After all, plenty of film afficianados believe that the second time you see a movie is really the first time. Because you're able to look at the whole thing as a piece of work rather than disjointed scenes or sub-plot. So maybe that will help me decide.

There were so many good things about this movie. Two of the best things - Ewan MacGregor and George Clooney. Ewan (Or Obi-Wan as most of us know him) plays Bob Wilton a disgruntled journalist in Iraq searching for a story that will help him make his mark. Enter the adorably scruffy George Clooney as Lyn Cassady, a member of the New Earth division of the army. Or as he tells Bob - the jedis.

He's a psychic soldier on a mission. A warrior monk who thinks he can make the clouds move with his mind and is working on his third level of invisibility. I'm not telling you more than that because...well, I don't know how much more I truly understand than that.

Clooney and MacGregor are the best part of the movie. Jeff Bridges has a fairly integral part of Bill Django, the creator of the 'jedis', but I found him too campy. It was one of those roles where you could feel him thinking 'Oscar, Oscar, Oscar' the whole way through. Yuck. Clooney and MacGregor had a weird, off-beat, quirky chemistry that was fun to watch. When they are alone on their journey...best part of the movie.

It's really the last half hour or so that lost me. Director Grant Heslov (who co-wrote 'Good Night and Good Luck, a brilliant Clooney vehicle) was really going for the big Hollywood ending. And I just didn't buy it.

But who knows...maybe if I watch it again, I'll buy it this time. Go see this one. Let me know what you think.