Short Take: A comedy with layers, but none so interesting as the jokes within them

Director: Grant Heslov

Screenwriter: Peter Straughan, Jon Ronson (book)

Cast: George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Ewan McGregor (Angels and Demons), Jeff Bridges (Iron Man), Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns, Moon)

Length: 1h 34m

Synopsis: A journalist eager to gain entry into Iraq to cover the ongoing war on terror (McGregor), bumps into a man (Clooney) who can grant him his wish. On a secret mission of his own, it turns out this mysterious man was once part of the U.S. military. His job: to help build a superhero army equipped with psychological powers. This man’s story becomes the one really worth telling.

Analysis: To elaborate on the superhero army a little further, the unit was made in the 1960s (during and after the Vietnam War) and designated to find a way to equip its men with the power to psychologically puppet its enemies. Specifically, their aim was to force the enemy to stand off by using their psychic powers to stimulate what they believed was a natural part of the brain that caused someone to hesitate or resist carrying out a command to kill. This would potentially lead to bloodless wars and force countries to rely on diplomacy.

One way that Lyn Cassidy (Clooney) was forced to exercise his psychological powers was to stare at a goat until its heart stopped. To his shame, he succeeded. A firm believer in “free love” and many of the new-age philosophies of the ‘60s, like the rest of his unit, Lyn also believed in karma, thinking that he’d one day pay for abusing his powers. This idea of reaping what you sow is perhaps the most prominent message that the film conveys.

Including the training montages that the “Psy-ops” unit takes part in, new-age ideology pokes out through the narrative every so often by way of little, seemingly insignificant details. For example, at one point Lyn and the journalist Bob (McGregor) are stuck in the desert and try to use a solar-powered, cone-shaped grill to cook food. Now, this means nothing regarding the narrative, but it’s one of many instances that show the film’s support for holism and “green” thinking. Even the goals and practices of the “Psy-ops” unit can be considered in line with holistic psychology. What these things put together can be interpreted as is a stance regarding America’s current efforts to redeem itself for not being as environmentally friendly as it should have been. Holistic ideology thinks of nature as a conscious being, which means that it is capable of punishment as well as forgiveness. Without giving too much away, the film expresses optimism that we are capable of redemption. However, it also encourages us to not allow ourselves to make environmental consciousness a phase but to continue keeping it in our minds and actions. When movies take part in reflecting current political and social issues to this extent their messages have the potential to backfire or be tuned out. However, perhaps because the film is a comedy its broad arguments can be taken more lightly and considered less of a lecture.

Rating: 6.5