The Men Who Stare at Goats

Director: Grant Heslov Grant Heslov

Overview

Loosely adapted from a nonfiction book by Jon Ronson, Grant Heslov's directorial debut The Men Who Stare at Goats begins as heartbroken reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) heads off to imbed himself with troops as the Iraq War starts, but Wilton can't get himself into the country until he chances upon Lyn Cassady (George Clooney). It turns out Lyn spent decades as part of the New Earth Army -- a platoon of men, led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), who lived a new-age lifestyle in an attempt to cultivate extrasensory perception that would allow the U.S. army to win wars nonviolently. Bill now has a secret mission in Iraq, and allows Bob to come along. As the duo gets into a series of misadventures, Lyn shares with Bob the colorful history of the New Earth Army and chronicles the nefarious machinations of Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), whose jealousy of Lyn's remarkable skill brought an end to the group.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/23/2010
UPC:	0013132137094
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	7,240

Special Features

Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion; ; Project "Hollywood": A Classified Report From the Set ; ; Audio Commentaries; Character Bios; Deleted Scenes

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

George Clooney	Lyn Cassady
Jeff Bridges	Bill Django
Ewan McGregor	Bob Wilton
Kevin Spacey	Larry Hooper
Stephen Lang	Brigadier General Dean Hopgood
Stephen Root	Gus Lacey
Robert Patrick	Todd Nixon
Waleed Zuaiter	Mahmud Daash,Mahmud Daash
Glenn Morshower	Major Jim Holtz
Nick Offerman	Scotty Mercer
Tim Griffin	Tim Kootz
Rebecca Mader	Deborah Wilton
Jacob Browne	Lieutenant Boone
Todd LaTourrette	Dave
Brad Grunberg	Ron
Elsa Villafane	Gus' Mother
Fawad Masood Siddiqui	Kuwait Waiter
Samuel Gates	Journalist #1
McCaleb Burnett	Journalist #2
Sean Phillips	Vietnam Soldier
Matt Newton	Vietnam Private Chris
Minh Tu Van	VC Woman
Robert Curtis Brown	General Brown
Hrach Titizian	Kidnapper #1
Shafik N. Bahou	Kidnapper #2
Christopher Maher	Iraqi Driver
Drew Seltzer	Technician
Donn Lamkin	Lyn's Father
Michael David Aragon	Insurgent
Morse Bicknell	Ben Echmeyer
Wiley Pickett	Krom - Texan,Krom - Texan
Diego Serrano	Krom - Chilean
Regi Huc	Krom - 3rd Security Man
Kevin Geer	CIA Agent
Kevin Wiggins	Major General Jack Gillian
J.J. Raschel	Clifford Hickox
Arron Shiver	Norm Pendleton
Jaime Margarida	Major General Pendleton
Steve Witting	PSIC Worker #1
Hunter Bell	PSIC Worker #2
Edward Holley	Army Soldier
Christopher Robinson	Stryker Soldier
William Sterchi	Bob's Editor
Terry Serpico	Krom - Phil Driver
Robert Curtis-Brown	General Brown
Sean Curley	Lyn (12 years old)
Aaron Shiver	Norm Pendleton
Rolfe Kent	Composer

Technical Credits

Peter Straughan

Jon Ronson

Grant Heslov	Director,Producer
Peter Straughan	Screenwriter
Paul Lister	Producer
George Clooney	Producer
Barbara A. Hall	Executive Producer,Executive Producer
James Holt	Executive Producer
Alison Owen	Executive Producer
David M. Thompson	Executive Producer
Cathy Sandrich Gelfond	Casting
Amanda Mackey	Casting
Kevin Harris	Special Effects
Craig 'Tex' Barnett	Special Effects
Jon Ronson	Screenwriter
Mark Mangini	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

It's hard to imagine a movie about the U.S. military training soldiers to discover their psychic powers that wouldn't be fun, especially if it's played for laughs. And the first half of Grant Heslov's directorial debut, The Men Who Stare at Goats, doesn't disappoint. The action begins when heartbroken reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) heads off to imbed himself with troops as the Iraq War starts, but Wilton can't get himself into the country until he chances upon Lyn Cassady. It turns out Lyn spent decades as part of the New Earth Army -- a platoon of men, led by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), who lived a new-age lifestyle in an attempt to cultivate extrasensory perception that would allow the U.S. army to win wars nonviolently. Bill now has a secret mission in Iraq, and allows Bob to come along. As the duo gets into a series of misadventures, Lyn shares with Bob the colorful history of the New Earth Army and chronicles the nefarious machinations of Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), whose jealousy of Lyn's remarkable skill brought an end to the group. With material this quirky and satirical, it's a good thing Heslov shows a flair for comedy. He knows how to accentuate the laughs through editing and framing -- most notably in a scene involving an IED -- and he's very good with his actors. George Clooney is screamingly funny playing Lyn's rigid military training and his free-spirited mind against each other in ways that make the character unique -- he's a haunted hippie/dreamer/warrior. He's well-matched by Bridges, who brings an appropriate Dude-like vibe to the proceedings, as well as Spacey, who delivers yet another amusing turn as a naturally loathsome a-hole. If only the script by Peter Straughan (very loosely adapted from a nonfiction book by Jon Ronson) had a stronger narrative through-line, the whole movie might have maintained its satirical edge throughout, becoming a bizarre cross between The X-Files and Stripes. Unfortunately, the wind comes out of the movie's sails in the second half, after we discover the goal of Lyn's sojourn behind enemy lines, and nothing from that point on has the imaginative bite of the movie's opening hour. But there are plenty of big laughs in The Men Who Stare at Goats, and it doesn't take psychic powers to see that first-time director Heslov, with a stronger story, is capable of great things.