54
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyA superbly written loony-tunes satire, played by a tony cast at the top of its game.
- 80EmpireDamon WiseEmpireDamon WiseGeorge Clooney dazzles and Jeff Bridges shines in a scattershot but often hilarious military farce.
- 75PremierePremiereAn often highly amusing comedy in the vein of "Catch 22" and "Dr Strangelove," this lively satire looks destined for future cult status. Great soundtrack, too.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe film is more than a little odd but it has fun with its offbeat premise and moves along breezily until it gets bogged down in the third act.
- 75St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSt. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsThis jam-packed picture is too zippily scripted and edited to get stuck in message mode, yet the stellar cast achieves a rare harmonic convergence.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterEven if The Men Who Stare at Goats is not worth comparing to "Dr. Strangelove," it should satisfy audiences with its great cast and patent absurdities, coated in quaint nostalgia for the happy hippie days of yore.
- 60The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneClooney gives it everything, but what does he get in return? A void where the story is meant to be.
- 40Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanDespite a backbeat of perky music and the sarcastic voiceover meant to lubricate the action, The Men Who Stare at Goats lacks pizzazz. The movie isn't funny enough to work as farce, but it's far too dippy to take seriously.
- 40Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfAn unfocused comedy about weird Army pseudoscience, ends up blinking before we laugh.
- 0Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanA magical-realist sitcom war farce that ends up being about nothing but its own slovenly smugness.