Jared Free - "The Men Who Stare at Goats" 4/21/10

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” follows a small town newspaper reporter, Bob Wilton, as he travels to Kuwait on a whim to investigate the Iraq War. Bob had heard rumors of a secret army program in the late 70s that was aimed at developing psychic spies, or Jedi, but had shrugged them off until he met Lyn Cassidy. Lyn was the star pupil of the program, and probably the only one with any actual ability, until the initiative was shut down. Lyn had gone to Iraq at the behest of a vision he had, though he doesn’t know what his purpose is. The film follows the two men, neither really knowing why they are in Iraq, as they both travel to find the unknown.

The movie is pretty funny, until the last 15 minutes where it seems like the film maker was just desperate to bring the movie to a close; there is one redeeming scene in the climax, however. A major theme in the movie is faith. Lyn knows he is psychic, and so do several other characters in the film, but everyone is constantly trying to convince him that he is not. As Lyn struggles to hang on to his faith in himself, he helps Bob, who’s wife had left and who’s job prospects were decreasing, discover a new faith in humanity.