Clooney, Bridges among "The Men Who Stare At Goats"

"The Men Who Stare At Goats" opens with a title card stating: "More of this is true than you would believe." I don't know about that, but I do know that the movie is funnier than it probably has any right to be, even if its clunky vignettes of political commentary weigh down the laughs. The movie's directors would rather you take it as a cutting, darkly comic satire, but don't be fooled; "The Men Who Stare At Goats" is a screwball war movie through and through. Fortunately, screwball movies don't preclude laughs, or this movie would have been laborious instead of funny.

The film opens with a reporter from Ann Arbor named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) interviewing a man who claims to have been a part of a top-secret, paranormal super- soldier program called The New Earth Army. The man claims that he and other soldiers were trained to utilize latent psychic abilities in order to revolutionize the army, and stay a step ahead of the Soviets. After Wilton conducts the interview, one thing leads to another and his wife leaves him for his editor. Wilton decides to make something of his life and heads to the Persian Gulf to prove his mettle. He spends some time in a fancy hotel in Kuwait, where he meets a legendary super soldier named Lyn Cassady.

Cassady (George Clooney) is the most renowned member of the New Earth Army, or the "Jedi Warriors" as he calls them. He eventually takes Wilton on a wild ride through Mesopotamia in order to carry out a vaguely defined "mission." Cassady claims to have the ability to intuitively give the right directions whenever asked ("Level two!"), be instantly aware of everything in the surrounding area, telepathically locate people, and as the title suggests, kill goats simply by staring at them for a long time. The film is peppered with flashbacks detailing the beginnings of the New Earth Army, which was founded by a drugged-out hippie soldier with long braided hair named Bill Django (Jeff Bridges). Django constructs the New Earth Army from vague New Age principles that establish the organization as a force for peace, rather than destruction. This gets confused when Clooney's character makes one or two offhanded references to using his powers for lethal purposes, but a slightly muddled script never hurt anyone.

The New Earth Army is endangered by the presence of Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), who hates the hippie aspect of the group, and would rather use psychic super soldiers as weapons instead of arbiters for peace. All of this is pretty funny, especially since some of Clooney's quips and the eccentric flashbacks involve Django's eccentric far-out training exercises.

Unfortunately the laughs tend to get weighed down by the films scenes of political commentary that are supposed to be satirical, but are too lightweight and goofy to present intelligent satire. For example, a scene involving Robert Patrick as the head of some sleazy defense contractors feels incredibly out of place, and it's not all that funny or insightful. The films idealistic "peace and love" climax is an anti-torture statement that doesn't go quite far enough, timidly backing away from any seriously disturbing possibilities. But the moral behind it is so likable and upbeat that it's kind of impossible not to grin while you're watching it.

Don't let all of that stuff get you down, and don't misunderstand me: this movie is really funny. On top of being really funny, it's very well acted by the principle cast, especially the invaluable Jeff Bridges who is essentially playing The Dude from "The Big Lebowski," which isn't a bad thing at all. Perhaps the feeble political reach of "The Men Who Stare At Goats" exceeds its grasp, but that doesn't prevent it from being good comedy. After all, the film is populated by hardened military hippies who call themselves Jedi Warriors. Like I said-it's impossible not to grin while you're watching it.