A movie about army programs studying the paranormal, dating back to Vietnam, going forward to Iraq. Supposedly, the military has been interested in paranormal activities and capabilities. The most important area is known as Remote Viewing. By concentrating on a subject, the viewer transports himself in spirit to another location and views what’s going on. He can see buildings, layouts, activities, people, weapons and weapons programs under way. That’s why the military might be interested in the stuff. It didn’t work so well in detecting weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. As with all military programs, we mere mortals will never know what is real and what is only imagined. We don’t know the truth.

About five years ago I read a few books on Remote Viewing. Most notably, Russell Targ’s Limitless Mind has been impressive and I learned a lot. I actually have read several more books on the subject, but this one was the most informative.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is about a few odd characters in the military who are involved in these paranormal research activities. It’s a movie where I chuckled a few times. Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and George Clooney do a good job acting here. Without these masterful actors, this would have been a horrible film to watch. However, these guys got me laughing and chuckling at times, so it was entertaining.

In the beginning, since I am genuinely interested in the subject, I paid attention and stayed with it. As the movie wore on, I realized there really wasn’t anything happening and most of what was going on was either dumb or flat-out boring, interrupted by an occasional slap-stick joke or funny scene to keep us going.

My take: read Limitless Mind and be enlightened. Don’t watch The Men Who Stare at Goats. It’s a mindless bore.

Rating: *