How funny is it that Ewan McGregor stars in The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) as fictional investigative journalist Bob Wilton?  That statement by itself might not seem humorous, but it will become clearer as we go along.  For now, just know that Star Wars plays a large role in the plot of today’s film.  McGregor played a young version of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the globally popular science fiction franchise.  The fact that Star Wars is referenced at all in The Men Who Stare at Goats is of interest to a nerd like me.  There was a time before I began practicing Catholicism in earnest that I considered joining the Jedi religion.  Yes, there is such a thing.  You can look it up if you do not believe me.  While I came to the realization that my Faith is everything, and the Jedi are a group of fictional monks, I still appreciate where there is cross over between the two.  After all, George Lucas grew up in the West where culture is entangled with its Christian roots.  Further, God is in everything, and He can spark peoples’ imaginations in some incredible ways.  Unfortunately, we seldom use it to deepen our relationship with Him as we should, hence why what you see in this movie can be frustrating.  If I may build it back up a little, I would say that God implants in us a longing for Him that causes us to search, and that is some of what you will see here.

Appropriately enough, The Men Who Stare at Goats begins with staring, though Major General Dean Hopgood (Stephen Lang) is looking intently at a wall.  We will see little of him throughout what follows, but he does deserve some of the credit for getting things started.  As a proviso, please note that the plot interweaves current events and flashbacks.  For clarity’s sake, I will tell it in my preferred linear method, though commencing with modern times.  As an up-and-coming journalist, Bob obtains an interview with local oddity Gus Lacey (Stephen Root), who is making a number of outlandish claims.  Yet, before Bob dismisses Gus as a crazy person, Bob is introduced to a video in which Gus claims to have made a hamster behave erratically.  This is Bob’s first introduction to the New Earth Army, a collection of supposed superheroes trained by the United States Army.  Among the men in this unit mentioned by Gus is Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), whom Gus refers to as the most gifted.  Not long thereafter, Bob’s wife, Debora Wilton (Rebecca Mader), leaves him and he decides to go to Kuwait to cover the Second Gulf War.  It is while in a hotel bar that he meets a man that turns out to be Lyn.  Though Lyn is initially suspicious of Bob, the older man notices the reporter’s doodling of the third eye.  This thoroughly non-Christian symbol can be found on your dollar bill, by the way, but in the film it a symbol for the New Earth Army.  Seeing the drawing is a sign to Lyn that Bob is supposed to be a part of his life.  For the moment, Bob is more interested in learning more about this self-proclaimed Jedi warrior.  He gets this designation because of the work of Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), an officer in the American Army.  He had been wounded during the Vietnam War, the result of his men shooting over the heads of their intended target.  As he lay back, bleeding from a bullet in his chest, he had a vision that their misfires are the result of gentleness, and that it is a strength.  As he recovered, he petitioned the Army high command to give him leave to investigate alternative lifestyles and figure out a way to weaponize them.  In reality, he got involved with the counterculture as a way of exploring the meaning of his vision.  As he did so, Major General Hopgood reads about Soviet investigations into the paranormal and decides the United States needs to do the same. Hence, when he learns about Bill, the go ahead is given for the now long-haired hippie officer to begin the New Earth Army.  The goal of the unit is to create so-called warrior monks to find an alternative way of fighting wars, hence the Star Wars references.  One of the early recruits is Lyn.  He is found by Major General Hopgood after Lyn apparently makes a number of computers go on the fritz with his mind.  He is progressing in his perceived powers until they get another person in the unit, Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey).  Larry believes his abilities to be superior, but becomes jealous of Lyn when he is shown to be more adept and thus has a closer relationship with Bill.  Because of this, Larry eventually contrives to have Bill dismissed from the Army, and Lyn follows not too long thereafter.  This all unfolds for Bob as he and Lyn journey into the desert on their way to Iraq.  Lyn claims that he is still in the special forces and on a mission, but it turns out to be a personal quest to find Bill based on a vision of his former commander.  Along the way, Lyn uses his intuitiveness to guide them through being captured by Iraqi bandits, only to hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while driving away from their captivity.  They are later picked up by a helicopter and brought to an American base to recover.  This also happens to be where Lyn locates Bill.  Now working for Larry’s private company doing psychological warfare, including torturing Iraqi prisoners, Bill is not the man he once was owing to a drinking problem.  Lyn, too, seems defeated, and admits to dying of cancer.  It is Bob that renews their spirit, and Bill unofficially brings the journalist into the New Earth Army.  The next day, they spike the food and water supply with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).  While everyone is in a stupor, they free the Iraqis and Bill and Lyn make off in a helicopter, never again to be seen.  Bob returns to the United States with an incredible story, but one that is most remembered for revealing American brutality against Iraqi captives.

The final shot of The Men Who Stare at Goats mirrors the first, except this time it is Bob looking at the wall.  Major General Hopgood’s goal had been to phase through the obstruction like he is invisible.  Instead, he runs head first into the solid structure, dazing himself.  Bob succeeds where the officer fails.  I do not recall seeing a Jedi do this in Star Wars.  I am also not aware of any Catholic saint who possessed this ability.  Still, I do not wish to be fixated on the minutiae of what can be done.  All things are possible with God, and He is the Lord of all matter.  There are some larger philosophical ideas presented that have parallels with Catholicism.  One of the first that struck me is the suggestion that the New Earth Army gave its branch of the armed forces its famous slogan from the 1980s, “Be all you can be.”  The notion is that by joining, a person can discover their true potential with military training.  Of course, the only One with whom this is possible is God.  This can extend to seemingly being granted powers beyond normal human function, and Church History has many examples of this happening.  Again, this is not my focus.  Instead, I want to draw your attention to phrases like when Lyn advises Bob to find his destiny, and then let “the river” carry the reporter to it.  Like so many aspects of modern culture, this is speaking to fundamental ways in which we were created by God.  He destined us to be with Him in Heaven, He desires it, but it takes surrendering to a current that is difficult to find when we fight it.  Perhaps the best words can be found in the New Earth Army’s mantra.  Unfortunately, it involves equating Mother Earth with God, which is just another obfuscation of the one true God.  On a side note, please understand that this is not intended as a gendered commentary.  Despite my labeling God with masculine pronouns, this is a function of the poor utility of the English language for describing the Divine.  God is genderless.  Instead, while the Mother Earth comparison is problematic, I like how they give the pledge that, “I am yours and you are mine.”  This has been a way Catholics have expressed worship for centuries, and it says a great deal about Faith.  God gave us everything so that we can give Him everything.  Surrendering yourself to such teaching will get you where your soul wants to go, even if you do not yet know it.

As I watched The Men Who Stare at Goats, I began to wonder about its point.  It does not appear that there is one.  In fact, there is not much of what the title suggests, though there is a fair bit of general staring.  Throw in a bit of nudity and you have a movie that does not do much for your spirit despite its conceits to the contrary.