Best Supporting Goat

George Clooney gets into a staring contest with a goat and the goat loses. This is by far the most interesting thing that happens in "The Men Who Stare at Goats". A staring contest. With a goat. Everything else in this film is a mish-mosh of plot and character that may or may not have actually happened in the 80's and 90's. There may have been programs run by the CIA involving the paranormal. Our tax dollars at work. But we never really find out much about these programs nor do we know what's fiction and fact. Everybody is too busy running around being quirky. Sometimes Clooney and Jeff Bridges almost pull it off. Kevin Spacey not so much. But nothing strings the quirk together because "Goats" is a little light on plot. Boy is that an understatement. There is supposed to be a mission I think. Couldn't really tell you what the mission is. There are a lot of characters that pop up late in the film that don't really have much to do with the whole pot of soup (an Iraqi kidnap victim that for some reason falls in with our boys). Oh, and there is a lot of voice over trying to explain things. Red Flag.
Maybe the worst problem is that amongst all that quirk and talent there is a real lack of funny. There is a little bit that's funny-ish but really that's not good enough. Too bad. Grant Heslov (the director and Oscar-nominated writer of "Good Night and Good Luck") is an old college acquaintance and a hell of a nice guy.
I'm willing to bet his next feature will be much better. Loved the goats though.