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Film Info |
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| Film Title: | The Men Who Stare at Goats |
| Release Date: | Fri. November 6, 2009 |
Crew Overview |
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| Director: | Grant Heslov |
| Writers: | Peter Straughan (screenplay) |
| Jon Ronson (book) | |
| Composer: | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematographer: | Robert Elswit |
| Editor: | Tatiana S. Riegel | Production Designer: | Sharon Seymour |
| Art Director: | Peter Borck |
| Set Decoration: | Marcia Calosio |
| Monica Monserrate | |
| Costume Design: | Louise Frogley |
Official Trailer (HD)
Early Thoughts & Opinions
Honestly, I can’t say much about this film because I don’t know all that much about it. The book predates me quite a bit, so I haven’t read it, and all I really have to go on are the trailers. The cast is great, especially two of my favorites; George Clooney and Jeff Bridges. The story looks fresh and witty, and almost like Extract in a way, which didn’t do so well… Also, the director is fairly new to the chair, but he does have quite a large film background in acting, producing, etc so he’s no amateur to filmmaking. Although I don’t quite know what to expect, the trailers were enticing enough to gain my attention and with this star studded cast i’m going in with fairly high expectations.
My Review
Stale, boring and very dry! The Men Who Stare at Goats is a simple story about a newspaper journalist whose quest to prove himself leads him to uncover this secret military program focusing on developing super powered super soldiers. I found the story pretty “out there” to the point where it almost seemed like an “accidental comedy” so I gave it a chance, but I had no idea it would be this dull. There were a small portion of subtle jokes that had me chuckling at times, but mostly I found myself being almost forced to laugh as some of the older (40-50 year old) crowd did around me. Thus, leading me to believe that this film will gain a much higher appreciation by those more familiar with the 1960’s and 70’s.
As expected, George Clooney carries the film along with Bridges and Spacey in a close fight for second. As I stated above, the humor is subtle and very dry so if you don’t pay attention to the conversations between the characters then you will miss most of the jokes. Please don’t get me wrong or attack me for my harsh critiquing of this film due to my young age because I will completely agree that its’ definitely more geared towards the 30+ crowd who will laugh at the “free-spirited hippies.” However, I don’t think that it succeeds. To really access the problems I have with the dialogue alone, I would have to read the source material (novel), but for me the humor was not plentiful enough, the tone was boring (causing me to gradually lose interest) and the film overall was just too flawed to make it even close to theater worthy. With all of these new films coming out right now and ticket prices going up, I strongly suggest that you skip this film.
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*Critique Ver 3.1
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Glad i didn’t go to this, i had a feeling the title and trailer were a little too abstract to be good enough to check out
I won’t see it, but it’s good to hear that they’re targeting a few movies to the older crowd; alot of the stuff out lately is focused a bit more on the young crowd, like Twilight.
Well the book is mostly to blame for that… and they were really just trying to find the next “Harry Potter” now that the series is ending. However, yes the majority of the movies released now are targeted towards the younger generation because they are the ones going and willing to spend the most money.
well considering i like those kinds of older movies the same way i like the newer ones (if not more) i will deffinitely be going to see this one and i will love it, also its boston dude!!! you cant deny that they rock
Yeah I will agree that the Boston songs were a nice bonus and you will laugh at the movie, but I don’t think it holds up. Please follow-up after you watch it and give me your opinion.
the movie was super delicious!
i laughed and had a good time watching the movie. it wasnt over kill in terms of funny but rather it told a story with funny bits of relief and of course boston. i came multiple times. all i can describe it as is “a movie that will make you feel good”
Well someone said to me the other day that they took interest in the trailer because it looked like a Coen Bros film… which I thought that it really did try to be. I almost compared it to The Big Lebowski in the review, but it didn’t completely work for what I was saying. What is your Overall Star Rating 1-5?
i would give it a 4 out of 5
Idk Scoobs it sure bombed in theaters… http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=menwhostareatgoats.htm
Excellent work there. I must appreciate author as well.
Very nice post. Do you accept guest writers?
Currently I am the only author on the site, but if you have a solid film knowledge and good writing skills I would gladly take a look at a sample or two and consider it.