The Men Who Stare at Goats

An emotionally wounded reporter (Ewan McGregor) gets himself stationed in Iraq after Sept. 11, and he winds up traveling through the desert with a purported psychic former soldier (George Clooney, in fine form) on a black-ops mission. Clooney’s soldier was part of a new-age squad that tried peaceful means to fight wars—but wasn’t above staring at a goat until its heart stopped. One of the year’s funniest movies, it not only features a hilarious Clooney, but Jeff Bridges as a longhaired military man and shaman, and Kevin Spacey as a jealous fellow psychic soldier. The movie falls safely on the bizarre side and, in that sense, shares similarities with Clooney’s directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Grant Heslov, who worked with Clooney on Good Night, and Good Luck, directs.