Earlier this year when writing about The Men Who Stare at Goats for our holiday movie guide, we said, "Jeff Bridges brings back large parts of his famed 'Dude' role as the druggie, hippie leader of psychic soldiers on a mission in Iraq. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey co-star in what looks like either the best comedy of 2009 or a colossal bomb (so to speak)." Roger Ebert likes it, but most others lean towards the latter.
"...funny..."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Hey, this is a movie about a 'New Earth Army' full of misfit soldiers yearning for a chance to be non-conformists with a cause, which means it's already two-thirds of the way to being awesome. Had [director] Heslov eased back a bit, Goats might've made it the rest of the way."
— Noel Murray, Onion AV Club
"The movie isn't funny enough to work as farce, but it's far too dippy to take seriously."
— J. Hoberman, Village Voice
"...ends in a confused mix of LSD-induced giggles and a call-to-destiny that seems both parodic and sincere. Its scattershot blasts at unconventional warfare and hippie transcendentalism are too impotent to produce much laughter, let alone the characters' longed-for ability to run through walls."
— Bill Weber, Slant Magazine
"...a magical-realist sitcom war farce that ends up being about nothing but its own slovenly smugness."
— Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Posted 11.05.09 by reelz