The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a 2009 satirical black comedy war film. Grant Heslov directed it, and Peter Straughan wrote the screenplay. The story is loosely based on Jon Ronson's 2004 book, which looked into the U.S. military's efforts to use psychic powers as a weapon. The cast includes George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey.

The film premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2009. It came out in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 6. Critics gave it mixed reviews.

**Plot**

The movie opens with U.S. Army General Dean Hopgood failing to walk through a solid wall—he just runs into it painfully. Reporter Bob Wilton, working for the Ann Arbor Daily Telegram, loses his wife to his editor. To prove himself, he goes to Kuwait to cover the Iraq War. There, he meets retired U.S. Army Special Forces operator Lyn Cassady. Lyn claims he belonged to a unit called the "New Earth Army," which trained "psychic" spies in skills like invisibility, remote viewing, and phasing.

Lyn explains the unit's origins: In 1972, Army officer Bill Django fell from a helicopter in Vietnam. His new recruits refused to fire on a Viet Cong soldier, and Django was shot in the chest. He had a vision of a female Viet Cong soldier who said, "their gentleness is their strength." This led him to Northern California to learn how gentleness could improve soldiers. He took part in activities like "naked hot tub encounter sessions" in Santa Rosa, "primal arm wrestling" in Sacramento, and the "beyond jogging movement" in Stockton. By 1980, Django returned to Fort Bragg fully immersed in the New Age movement, with long braided hair and a tattoo of an All-seeing Eye over a pyramid on his chest. With help from the gullible General Hopgood, Django trained the New Earth Army. Lyn Cassady and Larry Hooper were his top students, but they clashed over how to apply the philosophy. Lyn wanted to focus on peaceful conflict resolution, while Larry was drawn to the "dark side" of military use.

Lyn takes Bob into Iraq. They are kidnapped by armed locals who plan to sell them to insurgents. They escape with another hostage, Mahmud Daash, and are rescued by a private security team led by Todd Nixon. They flee when the team gets caught in friendly fire with another American security detail. Bob and Lyn continue their mission, guided by Lyn's