Salt Lake Tribune Review
A little of
George Clooney's charm, and a lot of his exposure to the Coen brothers, has rubbed off on actor-turned-producer
Grant Heslov (who co-wrote Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" and produced "Leatherheads") in his directorial debut. The fact-based story, adapted from journalist
Jon Ronson's book, follows a hard-luck reporter, Bob Wilton (
Ewan McGregor), trying to get an assignment into Iraq just after the U.S. invasion. Wilton finds the eccentric Lyn Cassady (played by Clooney), a contractor who divulges his work in a super-secret U.S. Army program, led by a far-out officer (
Jeff Bridges, in full Lebowski mode), to develop "superwarriors" with weaponized psychic powers. Heslov's deadpan handling of the movie's strange-but-true vibe, coupled with Clooney's full-tilt devotion to his outlandish character, smooths over the rougher patches of
Peter Straughan's quirky screenplay.
-- Sean P. Means
Vastly enjoyable
Submitted by: tivogirl
As Sean says, the script is definitely quirky. It's much more dramatic than the trailers led me to believe, though still hilarious. The pacing is a little odd, but the performances and desert dry humor make the movie. Jeff Bridges is just fantastic, as usual. His performance here will get a lot of comparisons to The Dude in "The Big Lebowski" but while this character is a full-on hippy, Bridges gives him a depth The Dude never explored. George Clooney and Ewan McGregor are a great pair, and who wouldn't watch them do just about anything for a few hours? They both need to do more of this dry, dark comedy.
This movie is different, in a good way. It's not for everybody, and it won't get huge numbers at the box office, but if you like something a little unusual and extremely funny with terrific acting, go see it.
The rundown: A reporter (
Ewan McGregor) heading into Iraq meets a self-styled "supersoldier" (
George Clooney) who reveals a secret U.S. Army program in this offbeat and often funny comedy. 93 minutes. (SPM)
Synopsis:
