If you fancy a night in watching a DVD, then take a look at the selection available at Island Libraries. At just £1.50 per night, they’re a great bargain. Ed
Many moons ago, Jon Ronson wrote a small but brilliantly-written weekly column for Time Out magazine. He developed as a writer with noted talent, if only due to not only writing from experience, but aiming for keeping truthful.
Based on one of his books; ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’ is an attempt at least to consider the truth of Jon Ronson’s experiences in one direction by Grant Heslov and although the film is passable and does work well enough, there is a pretense of confusion regarding its direction.
The problems seem to be in casting and altering the stars to fit into what really is a surprisingly longwinded movie, that is 50% interesting and yet does marginally scrape by.
‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’ is saved partly by both Jeff Bridge’s and George Clooney’s strong performances, but the seemingly fictional character Ewan McGregor plays is not as defining or believable as Jon Ronson himself.
However, the direction is it seems somewhat hurried and crosses truth with fiction, which Jon Ronson has not really intentionally done within his writing or presentation before.
This is a film therefore that seems to be based on serious enough research, but becomes tiring after a while because in its entirety the facts are not accentuated enough.
Although recognition for some of the arduous research and work Jon Ronson has achieved has finally arrived, the manner of a movie might have been too zealous in its manifestation and editing down would have benefited.
Yet the advice of Jon Ronson many moons ago has never been forgotten. “If you want to be a writer – give up the day job!”
