The trailer for The Men Who Stare at Goats advertises a fantastic satire about frivolous government spending and practices. Based on an unbelievable true story, the film chronicles the careers of soldiers in the First Earth Battalion, a psychic/paranormal group who offer outside-the-box strategies in combat.

Unfortunately, the film misses more than it hits.

Star Wars veteran Ewan McGregor stars as journalist Bob Wilton, a simple man who stumbles into a rough time with his life and seeks solace in Iraq. Yes, solace in Iraq. Hoping to land that big story proving he has guts, Bob tags along with former First Earth soldier Lyn Cassady, George Clooney, on a secret mission that will use all of Lyn's psi-ops training. What he discovers lacks definition.

Costarring Jeff Bridges (playing a less humorous version of his Dude character) and Kevin Spacey as Cassady's First Earth compatriots, the film borders on genius, but the script has issues.

Written by Peter Straughan (from the book by Jon Ronson) and directed by Grant Heslov (co-writer of Good Night and Good Luck), the film desperately tries to emulate Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove, but can never find the right tone. Unlike Strangelove which based its dark humor off a nightmare scenario handled by the wrong people, Goats switches between insane comedy and dull melodrama at a moment's notice. 'Goats' continually bleats its already clear message across the theater to the point of deafness.

A vast majority of Goats' laugh-out-loud scenes are spoiled in the trailer, leaving an assortment of sight gags and slapstick to anchor the film as a comedy. Some work, but others lack a comedic spark and wind up as mere chuckles. The film's running joke, that First Earth soldiers nicknamed themselves Jedi, works only because McGregor played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy and grows repetitive after awhile.

Heslov's direction deserves some blame. Actors sometimes look like they have no clue what they should do, important scenes lack "oomph" and some should have been cut completely. Worse yet, the film wants to make the audience think. 'Goats' continually bleats its already-clear message across the theater to the point of deafness.

The Men Who Stare at Goats wants to be this decade's Strangelove. Clooney and Spacey steal the show with some delicious scene-chewing, and McGregor makes a convincing straight man for the other actors to play off. Unfortunately, while Strangelove worked by being subversive, Goats tries too hard to make everyone laugh, and ultimately bites off more than it can chew.