Overture Films has picked up George Clooney’s newest starring vehicle, The Men Who Stare At Goats. Overture is known for releasing smaller critical darlings like Last Chance Harvey and The Visitor (and some not so loved films. Ahem, Mad Money), and it doesn’t seem like this movie will be any different, sporting a cast of all-stars like Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, and Ewan McGregor.
Directed by Grant Heslov and based on a true story, the movie will follow journalist Jon Ronson (played by McGregor) as he investigates an eerie, secret military unit that supposedly attempts to use psychic and paranormal powers for military gain. Clooney will play the special forces agent that reveals this top secret project to Ronson. The title of the movie refers to an agent’s claim that he was able to kill a goat just by staring at it.
There has been a recent surge of movies based on non-fiction books that make the author of the book a central character of the movie (The Soloist, Marley & Me) in an attempt to translate a writer’s writing style to the screen. More often than not, it’s unsuccessful, but with subject matter this peculiar and a cast this good, it would take a lot more than telepathy to make this movie uninteresting.
