The first look at the trailer and your thinking George Clooney has made another Coen brothers comedy in the vain of Brother Were Art Thou. While George acts like he’s in a Coen brothers film, this is not a Coen brothers film. It is based on the book of the same name written by Jon Ronson. And it is a non-fiction book, something you must remember while watching the film.
The films begins with Bob Wilton (McGregor) working at small town Michigan paper, interviewing a local physic. From this interview, Wilton chances on upon the strangest of strange tales of the New Earth Army: a secret division of the US military established after Vietnam to discover non-lethal, physic, forms of combat.
A series of events leads Wilton to Iraq where he meets, ex New Earth Army solider, Lyn Cassidy (Clooney). Formally the most gifted of the New Earth Army’s physic spies, which we learn about in a series of flashbacks, and he claims to have been reactivated.
It is from these flashbacks that we learn of the self styled Jedi Warriors thought to pass through walls, read minds and, em, kill goats by staring at them. This is also were we meet Bill Django (Jeff Bridges, on fine Dude form) the founder of the New Earth Army.
The films plot runs at a nice brisk pace, with plenty of gags, but eventually runs out of gas by the third act. The darker elements of the book have been replaced by a light breezy tale to reach a broader audience.
This is a good film well worth a watch. It is also maybe a first, it being an almost feel good movie about the conflict in Iraq. Great performances from Bridges and Clooney give it that extra half star. 3.5/5
By: Gavin O’Connor
Here’s the trailer:
