Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

The Men Who Stare At Goats

(2009)

The opening title reads something like “More of this story is true than you would believe.” The US military, hearing that the Russians were looking into psychic powers and their possible uses on the battlefield, really did start an ESP unit to look into the possibility of remote viewing, invisibility, walking through walls, stunning or killing people (or in this case, goats) with sheer mental powers, and all manner of other psi claptrap. That I do believe. What I don’t believe is that, as portrayed here, any of it worked. Sorry, folks, it’s a frickin’ lie. If you think I’m wrong, I invite you to demonstrate just one incident where any of this works. Just one. You won’t be able to do it, I guarantee. Which doesn’t mean I didn’t like the movie. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey are all good, and the scenes involving blissed-out hippie soldiers in the army doing their tie-dyed, bearded, stoney experiments are pretty funny. Om mani padme hum, you lazy dirtbags! Now drop down and give me twenty … without touching the floor with your hands!