It’s great going into a movie having no idea what it’s about. Too often, pre-conceived notions based on previews or source material can influence even the most open-minded moviegoer.

What was nice about going to see The Men Who Stare at Goats was that I had no idea what it was about. I hadn’t seen any previews or read any synopsises. All I saw was an enigmatic poster pasted on a construction site fence a block from my apartment building which featured, surprisingly, a man who was staring at a goat. The more times I walked past that poster, the more I thought, “I have got to see that movie.”

The film does feature men staring at goats, so it’s not just a clever title.

The premise revolves around the American military and its experimentation with parapsychology. The Men of the title are psychics trained to kill with their minds, who practice by stopping goats’ hearts.

The film is based on a non-fiction book by Jon Ronson, and it leaves you with an urge to find out just how much of the movie is fact and how much is fiction.

George Clooney plays a former psychic spy, (referred to as Jedi Knights in the film), Jeff Bridges is his mentor, Kevin Spacey is his less psychically talented rival, and Ewan McGregor is the hapless, whiney reporter along for the ride.

You wonder if McGregor was chosen as a nod to his playing young Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi in the newer and crappier Star Wars films.

The film flips back and forth between the 1970s, when the initial experimentation and training was carried out in the shadow of the Cold War, and the early days of the second Gulf War, when techniques first dabbled with in the past are carried out in the present in a combat scenario.

While not a laugh-out-loud comedy, the film is clever and fun to watch. The best scenes are the ones depicting the young recruits undergoing various psychic exercises under the tutelage of a spaced-out Jeff Bridges.

The filmmakers were careful to make psychic phenomena appear subjective for the majority of the film, as in, did George Clooney’s character really disperse those clouds with his mind? Or was it coincidence?

Or when Clooney assures McGregor he’s going to fend him off using his mind, then proceeds to use a judo flip instead. This keeps the audience guessing throughout the entire film whether these guys are for real or just flat-out kooks.

Despite the snappiness of the film, it does tend to lose its energy towards the end, but it wraps up quickly enough so you barely notice. The quality of the actors is really what makes the film so fun.

Clooney is at his deadpan best, Spacey is so sinister you’ll wish he had more screen time, and Bridges, well, this might be as close as we’ll ever be to The Big Lebowski 2. If you’re in the mood for something different, give The Men Who Stare at Goats a long look.

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Questions? Comments? Email Chet Greason at popcornucopia@gmail.com.