Psychic ‘Jedi’ new Earth soldiers passing through walls, controlling minds, and even killing goats by staring at them, sounds ridiculous but it’s just the type of nonsense that makes a great war comedy caper. Wonderful, wacky, and weird, this film is a must-see with brilliant performances from George Clooney and Jeff Bridges.
The film takes its inspiration from Jon Ronson’s original non-fiction book which reveals that the US army established a secret unit, called the First Earth Battalion, made up of the most gifted minds. Much of the unit’s exploits is unfathomable but, as the opening message of this film suggests, ‘more of this is true than you might believe’.
A small-town reporter, Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor ) interviews an army veteran who claims to have been part of a secret psychic unit. Wilton dismisses these claims as fanciful ramblings until the break-up of his marriage which leads to him going to Iraq. There he meets Lyn Cassidy (Clooney ), named as the secret unit’s most gifted member. Smelling a potential story Wilton blindly follows Cassidy into the harsh Iraqi desert. Cassidy, who claims to be on a special mission to find his long-lost mentor Bill Django (Bridges ), tells the unit’s story and reveals his powers which aren’t really that obvious to Wilton or anyone, making you wonder if this guy is insane. The trail eventually leads to another ex-unit member, the arch-enemy Larry Hopper (Kevin Spacey ) who has distorted the unit’s mission and ideals to serve his own ends.
Much of the film innocently mocks the unit’s exploits with absolutely hilarious moments including the goat death stare and the hippy free-love LSD inspired ‘research’ of Django. However, there are glimpses of the more serious aspects of the army’s real research including torture techniques involving non-stop Barney songs and flashing lights.
Portraying intriguing, arrogant, but quirky flawed know-it-alls seems to be Clooney’s thing and here he doesn’t disappoint. Bridges also impresses giving Django the likability and coolness of his famed and much-loved Big Labowski character. At first I thought McGregor wasn’t half bad but any performance would pale in comparison to the film’s other big names, including Spacey; however, there were great tongue-in-cheek Jedi references to his Star Wars alter-ego Obi Wan Kenobi.
This film can’t be missed.
Verdict: 5:5
