George Clooney in new psychic film!
Psychic abilities in wartime is the subject of a new film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
The Men Who Stare at Goats boasts a blockbuster cast, including George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor and is based on the book of the same name by British author Jon Ronson.
McGregor plays a reporter who gets caught up in a scheme where soldiers (including Clooney and Spacey’s characters) attempt to use psychic powers to win the war, including trying to kill enemy soldiers just by looking at them. The soldiers test this out on goats, hence the film's bizarre title.
While Ronson's book charted the US military's use of psychic techniques throughout the past three decades, the new film focuses on recent paranormal military programs as part of the war in Iraq.
Clooney and Spacey play soldiers who met when working as military psychics during the Gulf War as part of "the New Earth Battalion", and are reunited in Iraq. The film takes a light-hearted look at the recent troubles, but it does provoke the serious question of whether such initiatives are a worthwhile use of military funds and efforts.
Responses to The Men Who Stare at Goats have so far been mixed, with The Independent complaining about the lack of plot, but The Times praising Clooney’s amusing yet intelligent approach to his role.
Make up your own mind with a glimpse of the trailer here.