MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS

A marriage of talent in which all hearts seem to beat as one, Goats takes Jon Ronson's book about "the apparent madness at the heart of U.S. military intelligence" and fashions a superbly written loony-tunes satire, played by a cast at the top of its game. Recalling many similar pics, from Dr. Strangelove to Three Kings, and the screwy so-insane-it-could-be-true illogic of Catch-22, this is upscale movie-making, in Coen brothers style. Ewan McGregor, as the journalist assigned to interview an apparent wacko who claims he has special psychic powers, stumbles across an even crazier story: Back in the '80s, the government had a top-secret unit of "psychic spies" who were trained to kill animals by staring at them. George Clooney anchors the movie in a beautifully calibrated demo of comic timing and sheer physical presence. Jeff Bridges, channeling Big Lebowski, fits like a glove, and Kevin Spacey adds some welcome tartness to all the New Age weirdness. –Variety