The Men Who Stare At Goats

From the trailers I saw for this film I was extremely excited to see it. It looked like a funny, tongue-in-cheek action/drama with class A actors, plus a goat (which is an excellent addition to the DVD cover/poster and teases to the humor that will be ahead. I don’t want to spend a ton of time talking about this film, but I’ll just say that I was disappointed. There were genuinely funny moments, but they were sporadically placed throughout the film at best. From the first 4-minute sequence I knew what they were trying to do with this film and for me it fell on its face. The concept is original and adventurous, but it didn’t land as well as I’d hoped it would with me. I don’t know if it was that they spent too much effort taking themselves seriously or what, but I wanted something different. Don’t get me wrong, there were several moments that were laugh-out-loud hilarious, but I honestly think the first one came in after the 20-minute mark, which is far too late to turn the momentum around.

My wife fell asleep, my attention was picked up towards the end of the first act, but overall I was hoping for much more. Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and George Clooney were excellent and I believe that they couldn’t have done any better. However, an alteration into the film’s pacing and direction might have saved it from the train wreck that I thought it was. Perhaps train wreck is a little rough, but I usually love these oddball, satirical films, but this one left me wanting more. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments of brilliance, but you have to look for them and appreciate them when you see it.

Rating: 5.5/10