The Men Who Stare At Goats Opens in November
Hilarious screen adaptation of Jon Ronson’s best-selling book
Oct 11, 2009
The Men Who Stare at Goats isa fictional screen adaptation of Jon Ronson’s highly-successful book of the same name, which is based on true events he encountered whilst looking into ‘New Age’ research being carried out by the US government. This research involved subjects so ridiculous and unbelievable that you won’t believe they’re based on fact. It does, however, make for a great story!
There have been a couple of advance screenings of the movie, and the general feedback so far is promising. Derek Elley of variety.com described it as “a serendipitous marriage of talent in which all hearts seem to beat as one,” and Mike Goodridge of screendaily.com commented that it’s “a light-hearted and highly entertaining antidote to pompous large scale movies about Iraq or Afghanistan, which ironically may be the biggest hit of them all.”
No Goats, No Glory
The title is a deliciously dry insight into the film’s content, based on anecdotes where ‘psychically-gifted’ government agents honed their skills killing goats just by looking at them. The tagline, ‘No Goats, No Glory’, is even better! The cast is a noteworthy line-up of Hollywood greats, including George Clooney (Three Kings), Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) and Kevin Spacey (American Beauty), who all seemed to relish the chance to dust off their comedy gloves and get stuck in to a good satirical yarn.
A mere look at the trailer will instil the viewer with the sense of off-beat zany comedy that director Grant Heslov has strived to achieve. Think Three Kings meets Burn After Reading. It’s no accident that both these films starred George Clooney, who despite his Hollywood heart-throb image, seems to have a distinct flair for the comical and ludicrous that few actors of his type can match. Jeff Bridges adds the zany hippy vibe he so famously accomplished in The Big Lebowski, and Ewan McGregor offsets it all with a straight-laced performance as the incredulous reporter who documents all the madness.
If you would like to get some more insight into the background of this movie, get on to YouTube and take a look at Jon Ronson’s documentary on the subject, entitled Crazy Rulers of the World – Episode One: The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was aired on the UK’s Channel 4. In it you’ll meet the real people upon whom the film’s characters are based, and you will not believe the stuff they’ll tell you!
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