The Men Who Stare at Goats is a 2009 British-American satirical black comedy war film directed by Grant Heslov, adapted by Peter Straughan, and starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey. It was produced by Clooney s and Heslov s production company Smokehouse Pictures. The film is a fictionalized version of Jon Ronson s 2004 book of the same title of an investigation into attempts by the U.S. military to employ psychic powers as a weapon — which, in turn, is a companion to a British miniseries Crazy Rulers of the World.

The film premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2009, and went on general release in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 6, 2009. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

In a short prelude, U.S. Army General Dean Hopgood is painfully thwarted in an attempt to pass paranormally through a solid wall by simply running into it.

Ann Arbor Daily Telegram reporter Bob Wilton s wife leaves him for the editor. To prove himself, Bob flies to Kuwait to report on the Iraq War. He stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he meets retired U.S. Army Special Forces operator Lyn Cassady, who reveals he was part of a unit training psychic spies to develop parapsychological skills including invisibility, remote viewing, and phasing.

In 1972, Army officer Bill Django, after falling out of a helicopter in Vietnam, found his newly recruited men unable or unwilling to fire on a Viet Cong soldier before being shot in the chest. He then underwent a fact-finding mission prompted by a vision of a female Viet Cong soldier who says their gentleness is their strength. Django s mission immersed him in the New Age movement so that, when he returned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1980, he had long braided hair and a tattoo of an All-seeing Eye surmounting a pyramid on his chest.

Facilitated by the credulous General Hopgood, Django led the training of a New Earth Army, with Lyn Cassady and Larry Hooper as his top students. The two developed a rivalry over their opposing views on implementing the New Earth Army s philosophy. Lyn wanted to emphasize the teachings positive side, such as resolving conflict peacefully, whereas Larry was interested in the dark side of its military application.

Lyn takes Bob into Iraq. Kidnapped by criminals who want to sell them to insurgents, they escape with fellow hostage Mahmud Daash and are rescued by a private security detail led by Todd Nixon. Fleeing when the detail is caught in a firefight fiasco with another American security detail, Bob and Lyn continue on Lyn s mission prompted by Lyn s vision of Bill Django.

After their car is disabled by an IED Bob and Lyn wander in the desert. Lyn reveals that he had stopped a goat s heart to test the limit of his mental abilities, and believes this evil deed has cursed him and the New Earth Army. It s also revealed that Hooper conducted an unauthorized LSD experiment in which a soldier killed himself, forcing Django out of the Army.

Bob and Lyn are rescued at a camp run by PSIC, a private research firm engaged in psychic and psychological experiments on a herd of goats and some captured locals. To Lyn s dismay, Larry runs the firm and employs Django, now a depressed alcoholic. Bob learns the ways of the New Earth Army and they spike the base s food and water with LSD and free the goats and captured locals, in an attempt to remove the curse. Lyn and Django fly off in a helicopter, disappearing into the sky like all shamans .

Bob returns to work as a reporter and writes an article about his experience with Lyn. He is frustrated that the story s only portion to be aired is how the captives were forced to listen to the Barney & Friends theme song for 24 hours, which dilutes his story to the level of a joke. Bob vows to continue trying to get the bigger story out. He exercises his own psychic abilities and, following some intense concentration, seemingly runs through a solid wall in his office.

Cast

• George Clooney as Lyn Cassady, a combination of several real-life psychic spies. Elements of his character are primarily based on Glenn Wheaton and his name resembles that of Lyn Buchanan. His background details match those of Guy Savelli, the man who claims to have killed a goat by staring it down and now runs a dance studio as Lyn does in the film. Also, some of Lyn s actions in the film mimic Peter Brusso s interactions with Ronson, particularly the Predator scene, and the attack me scene.
• Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton, apparently inspired by Ronson, a mild-mannered investigative journalist who uncovers the bizarre truth.
• Jeff Bridges as Bill Django, based on Lt. Col. Jim Channon who spent two years in the 1970s investigating new age movements, and subsequently wrote an operations manual for a First Earth Battalion. Also says like a boy in a desert planet (a reference to Luke Skywalker) and an albatross around his neck a reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798.
• Kevin Spacey as Larry Hooper. An apparent original creation for the film, Larry represents the New Earth Army s dark side and wishes to use the non-lethal technologies in harmful ways and is the film s main antagonist.
• Robert Patrick as Todd Nixon, an original character heading up a private security firm in post-invasion Iraq.
• Stephen Lang as Major General Dean Hopgood, who is based on Major General Albert Stubblebine III, and firmly believes people can walk through walls.
• Stephen Root as Gus Lacey, who introduces Bob to the New Earth Army s concepts; also somewhat based on Guy Savelli and Lyn Buchanan.
• Glenn Morshower as Major Jim Holtz, a more by-the-book soldier.
• Waleed Zuaiter as Mahmud Dash, an Iraqi who gets captured with Cassady and Wilton.
• Nick Offerman as Scotty Mercer
• Rebecca Mader as Debora Wilton

The film s end titles expand on the characters factual links with this proviso:

Although this film is inspired by John Ronson s book The Men Who Stare At Goats, it is fiction, and while the characters Lynn Cassady and Bill Django are based on actual persons, Sergeant Glenn Wheaton and Colonel Jim Channon, all other characters are invented or are composites, and not portrayals of actual persons. The filmmakers ask that no one attempt walking through walls, cloudbursting while driving, or staring for hours at goats with the intent of harming them…invisibility is fine.

Reception

Critical response

On review website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 51% based on 217 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website s critical consensus reads: 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. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of C+ on an A+ to F scale.

George Clooney s performance was very positively received. Mike Sheridan of entertainment.ie wrote, Clooney shines in this remarkable story, based on actual events…Clooney is now pretty much the sole bearer of the classic movie star tag, and once again, he injects a performance with a Coen brothers level of quirky. His twitches, his more ponderous moments; you buy this character because it s Clooney, and he s exceptional here.

John Sergeant complaint

The film is inspired by British journalist Jon Ronson s book, which was accompanied by the 2004 Channel 4 three-part documentary Crazy Rulers of the World. In turn, Ronson had dedicated his book to journalist and filmmaker John Sergeant, who worked intensely through 2003 and 2004 on the documentary. However, Sergeant has complained he has not received any credit for his part in formulating what was the inspiration for the film. Sergeant s version of events is corroborated by a number of sources: the book The Men Who Stare at Goats itself is dedicated to Sergeant, and the afterword states: John s research and guidance can be found on every page . Further, Colonel John Alexander – one of the story s leaders – has written to Sergeant: If you want support for your position, tell reporters (or lawyers) to contact me. You were definitely the key person in developing the whole Goats project.

Release

Home media

The Men Who Stare at Goats was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Region 1 on March 23, 2010, and was released in Region 2 on April 19, 2010. The extras include Goats Declassified: The Real Men of the First Earth Battalion .

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-11-06
RuntimeMins	94
RuntimeStr	1h 34min
Plot	A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army’s New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 1 nomination
Directors	Grant Heslov
Writers	Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan
Stars	Ewan McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey
Produced by	George Clooney,Barbara A. Hall,Grant Heslov,James Holt,Paul Lister,Alison Owen,Luillo Ruiz,David M. Thompson
Music by	Rolfe Kent
Cinematography by	Robert Elswit
Film Editing by	Tatiana S. Riegel
Casting By	Cathy Sandrich Gelfond,Amanda Mackey
Production Design by	Sharon Seymour
Art Direction by	Peter Borck
Set Decoration by	Marcia Calosio
Costume Design by	Louise Frogley
Makeup Department	Angelo Alberti,Dominique Borrel,Martial Corneville,Ken Diaz,Blair Leonard,Arlene Martinez,Waldo Sanchez,Gunnar Swanson,Jay Wejebe,Georgia Allen,Gretchen Bright,Laura Hill,Vanessa Jaramillo,Bob Kretschmer,Robert Maverick,Yvette Meely,Jolynn Nieto,Ashlynne Padilla,Teri Ann Uccan
Production Management	Ellen Gordon,Barbara A. Hall,Michelle Lankwarden,Charlene Olson
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Ian Calip,Jai James,John Nasraway,John R. Saunders,Juan Esteban Suárez,David Webb
Art Department	Emilio J. Acosta,Paul Alfaro,Richard Alfaro,Carlos Carly Antunez,Pedro Aponte,Jamie Archer,Paul Barreras,Rick Belosic,Metin Bereketli,Paul Berg,Mike Blatner,Jeff Bolen,Apreciado Bonilla,Christopher Brion,Fritz Buckley,Arquello Burgos Nieves,Gladys Bustos,Marcia Calosio,Kyle Caraway,Isaiah Carpenter,Rick Chavez,Lance Cheatham,Sebastian Claudio,Luis E. Colon Santiago,Sage Emmett Connell,Carlos Jose Diaz,Lizz Diaz,Gabriel O. Encarnacion,Rolland Feight,Fernando I. Fernandez,Joe Freeman,Jeremy Gallegos,David Gonzalez,Mark Gutierrez,David Glenn Haris,Theodore Harris,Paul Herrera,Hannah M. Hinkel,Daniel Holloway,Ana Huber,Richard Hurff,Juan Guallini Indij,Marcos Iparraguirre,Jorge H. Irizarry,Mario Luciano Irizarry,J. Stevie Jerauld,Eddie Jimenez,Matthew P. Johnson,Erik Keeling-Torrez,Mark David Kersey,William Kessler,Dennis Larkins,Mary Llenza,David Lombard,Amahl Lovato,Eddy Lujan,Luis López-Baquero,Michelle Malley-Campos,Roberta Marquez Seret,Joseph Marshall,Alejandra Martinez,Francisco Martinez,Miguel Antonio Martinez,Christopher McCain,Tim McCulloch,Monica Monserrate,Adam Montoya,Lawrence Morales,Sorely Muentes,Kimberly Murak,Joaquin N. Negron,Jodi Nichols,James F. Oberlander,Jean Pierre Patie,Wilhem Perez,Andrew Petrotta,Jeff Plauster,Billy W. Ray,Edward Reyes,Richard Roble,Jose M. Rosado,Alexis Gavilanes Sanchez,Daniel Sanchez,Leonard Sanchez,Jose O. Santiago,Natalia Martinez Santiago,Melissa Sarthou,Adrian Segura,Barton Slade,Tek J. Smith,Enid Soto-Mendez,Jaime Souza,Jimmy Stephens,John Stone,David Trujillo,Robert P. Trujillo,Robert Valverde,Omar Villarella,Shant Balkian,Charlie Bonilla,Marsi Caraballo,John Coven,Trinity Tad Davis,Carlos De Orduña,Ellen Lampl,Nichole Miller,Raquel Medina Rampolla,Giancarlo Rebella,Vivian Rebella,Mariana Roca Iguina,Gerardo Vega,Dan Williams
Sound Department	Mark Coffey,Jenna Dalla Riva,Caoimhe Doyle,Brooke Graeff,Jack Heeren,Justin Herman,Matthew Iadarola,Robert Jackson,Jeff Knudsen,Goro Koyama,Andy Malcolm,Mark A. Mangini,Jared Marshack,Ronnie Morgan,Piero Mura,Mark Ormandy,Scott Oyster,Eric Potter,Efrain Rosado Mestre,George Simpson,Dean St. John,Jason Stevens,Edward Tise,Christopher T. Welch,Don White,Julie Altus,Philip Young
Special Effects by	Craig Tex Barnett,Charlie Bonilla,Robert Caban,Hector Collazo,Kevin Harris,Kurt Harris,Harry Hurst
Visual Effects by	Matt Ashton,Elika Burns,Patrick Clancey,Scott Crafford,Ben Dishart,Donald Fly,Mathias Frodin,Amy Garback,Bill Gilman,Alex Gitler,Kyle Gray,Brian Han,Nina Harlan,Joe Henke,Heather Elisa Hill,Mark Justison,Dan Knight,Sean Mattini,Katie Miller,Kama Moiha,Gregory Oehler,Julie Orosz,Salahuddin Razul,Chris Ryan,Heather MacPhee Ryan,Nabil Schiantarelli,Aaron Schultz,Prateep Siamwalla,Thomas J. Smith,James Valentine,David Van Dyke,Matthew T. Wilson,Charlie Winter,Annalyn Betinol,Randy Brown,Elohim Cervantes Tampus,Brian Holmes,Jean Jardeleza,Brandon Kachel,Kwang Jib Kim,Seryong Kim,Dong Su Kwak,Gregory D. Liegey,Brett Magnuson,Diana Miao,Robert Minsk,James P. Noon,Hyun Bo Park,Mitch Paulson,Shaun Anthony Portillo,Bongkee Sohn,Jason Wardle,Xye
Stunts	Raul Alcocer,Pat Banta,Bobby Beckles,Chick Bernhard,Bobby Burns,Jorge Cisneros,Alan D Antoni,Vince Deadrick Jr.,Ed Duran,Ramon Frank,Jeffrey Lee Gibson,Al Goto,Scott M. Helgert,Jaime Irizarry,Drew Leary,Sli Lewis,Jalil Jay Lynch,Erik Martin,Anthony Molinari,Madeleine Morales Pagan,Peewee Piemonte,John Prudhont,Jay Spadaro,Merik Tadros,Ramón Vázquez,Mark Aaron Wagner,Loyd Catlett,Edward Conna,Bryan Ludens
Camera and Electrical Department	Colin Anderson,James W. Apted,Robert E. Arnold,Joe Bacharka,Adam Barth,Kase Bowman,Fernando M. Briones,Erik L. Brown,Emanuel Carrión,Erick Castillo,Daniel Clear,Leslie Colombani,Victor Cruz Cruz,Alan Feshold,Andrés Figueroa,Felix Nunes Flores,Leslie Freud,Michael Gibson,John Gorman,Ian Hanna,Barry Baz Idoine,Chris Jarm,Kevin Jojola,Michael Kenner,Kurt Kornemann,Jeff Kunkel,Nikki LeBlanc,Zoraida Luna,Laura Magruder,Santiago Benet Mari,Abner Medina,Mark Mele,Lea Miller,Johnny Morris,Louis Nelson,Mark O Flahavan,Raymond Orraca,Angel Pastrana,Lauren Petzke,Steven T. Reed,Jasinto Reyes,Gilberto Rosario,Rob Salviotti,Roxanna Santiago,Mark Sheppherd,Kelly Simpson,Bryan J. Smith,Brian Thomas,Rick Thomas,Jorn Vylonis,Scott Wetzel,Colin Anderson,Theodore Y. Bott,Edgar Colón,Raphael Freud,Brett Heicher,Chris Kittinger,Matthew Massie,Alfredo Melendez,Bayoan Padro,Peter M. Smith
Casting Department	Matt Adler,Patricia Alonso,Jo Edna Boldin,Kate Caldwell,Elizabeth Gabel,Lorrie Latham,Hannah Macpherson,Luis Javier Maldonado,Marie A.K. McMaster,Jessica Rodriguez,Luis Javier Saiter,Rebecca Stover,Chrissy Fiorilli,Brittany A. Jones
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Deborah Andrews,Bren Cook,Tom Cummins,Jennifer Gingery,Julia Gombert,Jo Kissack,Ali Lammari,Elizabeth Lancaster,Milagros Núñez,Mitzy Ann Ramirez,Richard Schoen,Gladyris Silva,Loida Viera,Karina Vélez,Jeanette M. Loera,Robert Mendoza,Stevie Sterman
Editorial Department	Susan Bliss,Gary Burritt,Dustin DellaVecchia,Michael Dillon,Jose D. Dominguez IV,Andrew Leven,Daniel Lugardo,Sean Mattini,Devon Miller,Jim Passon,Mitch Paulson,Christian Prejza,Pablo Prietto,Steven J. Scott,Sam Tirado,John Vladic
Location Management	Michael J. Burmeister,S. Todd Christensen,Agnes Colon,Rey Figueroa,Marcus Montano,Andrew Jackson Murphy,Robert Roig,Karen S. Uphoff,Justin T. Williams,Gregory H. Alpert,Rich Gill,Erik Keeling-Torrez
Music Department	Tony Blondal,Linda Cohen,Stephen Coleman,Sam Hofstedt,Rolfe Kent,Meredith Meyer,Northwest Sinfonia,David Sabee,Alistair South,Nick South,Greg Townley,Brent Valentino,John Winters,Alice Wood,Christian Almiron,Steve Griffen,Richard Ziegler
Script and Continuity Department	Coraly Santaliz
Transportation Department	Mike Davis,Doraifay Estrada,Ricardo Gonzalez,Rica Groennou,Francisco Panchi López-Franco,James William Ray,Josiuan Rojas,Francisco Pancho Rosa,David Wang,Leanne Wilkerson,Kip Wolverton,Angel L. Lopez Garcia,Robert Gaskill,Mike McKenny,Luis Cuba Medina Sánchez,A.J. Mink Jr.,Lucas Stein,John H. Stephens,Greagrey Waldrop
Additional Crew	Doug Acton,Jamie Afifi,Richard Agee,Andrew P. Aguilar,John Armijo,Jose Arriba,Thomas Battani,Isabel Begg,Raushawn Bitosi,Tamara Brock,Greg Byrd,David Calabrese,Jana Camacho,Alison Cannon,Cristina Caraballo,Loyd Catlett,Rob Corlew,Mitchelle Correa,Rafael E. Corretjer Russi,Mark Craig,Dennis Davidson,Trinity Tad Davis,Jeremy De La Rosa,James D. Dever,Ron Dolecki,Michael Donner,Dave Dorn,Mary Duree,Gino Falla,Daniel Fisch,Sara Jo Fischer,Cliff Fleming,Cory Fleming,Heather Foster,Jock Gatti,Guillermo Gonzalez,Juan Gonzalez,Sonia González Riera,George Goodwin,Eric Greenfeld,Emily Gruendike,R. Elliott Guinn,Rob Harris,Angel David Hernandez,Elizabeth Himelstein,Sarah Iha,Lisa H. Jackson,Hamish Jenkinson,Sergio Jimenez,Lauren Lawrence,Ivonne C. Leon,Pattee Mack,Yulia Makhtin,Jennifer Mancuso,Annie Marter,Angel McConnell,Allistair McCray,Mike McLaughlin,Matt Miller,Diane Min Fa,Grant Mitchell,Jacquline Montoya,Jerry Montoya,Basilio Morales,Walter E. Myal,Jerry Nagin,Joe Oppenheimer,Luis E. Pagan Nevarez,Tiffany Patterson,Anthony Pelot,Mariella Perez Serrano,Jose L. Quiles,Kenn Rabin,Paul Sled Reynolds,Titus Reynolds,Luis A. Riefkohl,Leopoldo Riera,Wilmary Rodriguez,Jesús A. Romero,Rufus Rosendo,Marissa Salgado,Eric Sanchez,Antonio Santiago,Aaron Z. Schor,Jennifer Schwalenberg,Anne Scott,Debbie Seif,Antonio Sifre,Stephanie Sterman,Lane Stewart,Lisa Strout,Katie Murphy Sumers,Jim Swidarski,Quay Terry,Lisa Van Allen,José R. Varona,Hiram Vazquez,Eric Vega,Lawrence Villanueva,Mollie Kimball Whitson,Michael Wood,Will Youngblood,Oscar Zapata,Nacha Zurinaga,Victor Andujar,Kathleen Breton-Collier,Andy Brunskill,Jeremy Burnell,Matthew Coleshill,Gilberto Cruz,Jose de Miguel,Brooke Fair,Cory Fleming,Felipe Garcia,Nathan Helm,Heather Kilness,Mustafa Knight,Jeanette M. Loera,Mariant Medina,David Midgen,Frank Powers,Alfredo R. Robles Rodriguez,Girard Swan,Alan Trever,Robert Vertrees,Daniel Villagomez,Ayla Wilder,Jeff Winn,Carlos Zayas
Thanks	James Channon,Jean-Luc De Fanti,Jeff Sagansky,Bryan Wolf
Genres	Comedy, War
Companies	BBC Films, Ruby Films, Smokehouse Pictures
Countries	USA, UK
Languages	English, Arabic
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	6.2
ImDbRatingVotes	132523
MetacriticRating	54
Keywords	satire,army training,iraq war,secret military operation,goat