The Men Who Stare At Light Projected On A Screen

Ok, so, The Men Who Stare At Goats.
A film based on a book based on true events that's presented in the most unfeasible way wherein the creators appear to have limited interest, sadly, in presenting facts in a believable manner, instead opting for going all out crazy and backing up a road trip with a poorly American accented Ewan McGregor and a mustached George Clooney in Iraq by using 'document's and narration to supply backstory in segments to the events that unfurl on film. The premise of a journalist slowly realising a local man, Stephen Root, wasn't crazy and actually spoke the truth about a military segment focussing on psychic powers, leading to his journey to find the truth, seemed great, lots of comedy, interesting revelations to the movie going public about what really happened, and backed up by what clearly is an amazing cast.

The first 10 minutes had so much hope, Root is only in the beginning, and he's always great, add to that a wonderful montage of events and credits set to Supergrass (Instant Win), but by the time we're knee-deep in the desert and realising that the film has limited interest in giving much in a story or informing us of the events, short of the comedic moments in the trailers dragged out more, ruining all elements of humour in them, it becomes a painfully slow hour and forty minutes.

Even in a film that brings Jeff Daniels in as The Dude under military command, drugs, long hair, crazy dancing, not giving a shit, all the Dudians that Jeffrey Lebowski offered up, and given an adversary in Kevin Spacey's villainous, smart officer joining the 'jedi' program, it all falls flat and, like the premise, goes nowhere, slowly.

Even poor ol' Robert Patrick and Stephen Lang are underused, they're too awesome, it's the equivalent of having R. Lee Ermy in a military film and having him be a worried grandfather concerned, caring and sweet natured, it's wrong.

Alas the film never really tried to get off the ground, it just goes along with it's star studded mess for it's runtime, near oblivious to all it's missgivings, even a raid of LSD in water at a base plot point is far too dulled down to be genuinely entertaining, the film proves it's a real shambles and what could have been is long gone by now.

5/10