Too shallow for satire and not funny enough for comedy, the infantile Goats is really just a silly absurdist movie trying to pass for an antiwar film.
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11/13/09
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The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
54
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Reviews Counted:166
Fresh:89
Rotten:77
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Though The Men Who Stare at Goats is a mostly entertaining, farcical glimpse of men at war, some may find its satire and dark humor less than edgy.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating]
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:06-11-2009
Synopsis: A reporter (Ewan McGregor) delves into the world of psychic military regiments during the Iraq War in this adaptation of the Jon Ronson book THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS. George Clooney, Kevin... [More]
Starring: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey
Director: Grant Heslov
Reviews for The Men Who Stare at Goats
The picture soon runs literally and figuratively into the sands and can't dig itself out.
11/13/09
Feels less like a transcendental breakthrough than a bit of conjuring misdirection. Fun trick, though.
11/06/09
Top CriticA competent, polished outing for Heslov and his cast. But despite its undoubted qualities, its slightly smug attitude means it never quite matches the bite of earlier military satires.
11/06/09
Top CriticA raucous and rapid-fire military comedy that channels the absurdist spirit of Catch 22 and Three Kings but is often something else entirely.
11/06/09
Top CriticIf we can't be sure how much is just being made up, then we have to rely on the entertainment factor, and that is marginal.
11/06/09
Top CriticEither someone missed the memo about other people’s LSD trips being a colossal drag, or else they fed it to a goat.
11/06/09
Top CriticErring on just the right side of silliness, its combination of slapstick and off-the-cuff sitcom mostly hits the right marks.
11/06/09
The film is just so darned entertaining.
11/06/09
Easily the funniest movie ever to feature a goat-slaying psychic.
11/06/09
A disappointingly generic finale gives way to an ingenious final gag, however, with the gleefully anarchic spirit that drives the film leaving a much bigger impression than the patchy story.
11/06/09
This Coens-lite comedy squeezes every last drop of craziness from its source but is undone by a thin third act. McGregor’s a good straight man, but it’s Clooney’s show.
11/06/09
An amusing little farce inspired by some genuinely hair-raising true stories. But it loses its nerve in its second half as the need to impose conventional narrative closure eclipses the wacko subject matter. Fun, but forgettable. Burn after viewing.
11/06/09
It lacks the control of the Coen brothers, in whose image the movie has been only serviceably created by first-time director Grant Heslov, and merely encourages the audience to stare at an all-star cast for 90 minutes or so.
11/06/09
What we see is both true and not true, absurd and deadly serious. That works well to begin with, and the first hour or so is funny, engaging and occasionally poignant.
11/06/09
There are amusing moments, but you'll need extra-sensory powers to spot the plot.
11/06/09
A laidback, slightly underwhelming farce on the madness of the military.
11/06/09
Despite a strong cast's admirable efforts, though, this ends up as a bit of an ill-defined muddle that should have focused more on fact than quirkiness.
11/06/09
The film starts hopefully, drifts into the desert, ends up starved of point, pith and pattern.
11/06/09
Interesting title, promisingly quirky subject, top-drawer cast – such a duff movie.
11/06/09
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