Despite a cryptic title, and an even stranger trailer that reveals nothing about the content of the film, Grant Heslov’s second film ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’ is an unexpected comedy gem.

Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by UK journalist Jon Ronson, the start of the film introduces investigative reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor). It is 2003 and his seemingly perfect life has just fallen apart; his local reporting job has become mundane and his girlfriend has just left him for his one-armed boss.

In an attempt to impress his ex, Bob decides to fly to Iraq to become a war journalist. However, he has no way into the country, until he meets Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney) who claims to be a former member of the New Earth Army, an obscure branch of the US Army headed by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges).

In a series of flashbacks throughout the film, Bob learns that the New Earth Army were trained to become psychic soldiers as a means of alternative combat after the Vietnam war. The members of the regiment were trained to bend spoons, pass through walls and kill goats by staring at them. They are the antithesis of your stereotypical soldier; they wear US Army uniforms, yet they have long hair, beards and practice yoga, not push-ups. They call themselves Jedi Warriors, which is made all the more amusing by the presence of McGregor, who famously played Obi Wan Kenobi in the latest Star Wars films.

Although the film concerns itself with war, it is surprisingly funny, even to the extent where scenes of kidnappings and the explosion of a roadside bomb become moments of humour.

Perhaps due to the presence of The Big Lebowski’s Bridges, but also due to the film’s amazing landscapes that show the expanse of nothingness in Iraq, the film has a Coen brothers feel about it. Yet the humour isn’t quite so sophisticated, and the ending not quite so satisfying.

The comedy in this film is not for everybody. There are some laugh-out-loud moments that some will not find funny at all. The riotous ending is also rather unbelievable, and underpins the more subtle humour of the first half of the film. Yet when the film’s subject matter as a commentary on Iraq is taken into consideration, it does demonstrate its position that the war was a joke – particularly in the scene where Bob drunkenly watches George Bush give a disjointed speech on TV.

The film offers no resolution to the war and is a refreshing change to some of the more serious cinematic offerings of late. Although it may lack the dark political aspects of ‘Three Kings’ and ‘Dr. Strangelove’, it is still well worth a watch, even if it is just to see Clooney resemble a hairy Dave Grohl in the 80s flashbacks, or just to reminisce as you watch Bridges reprise his role as the Dude one more time.

Instead of scrapping the film altogether, as Gilliam did in ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’, or resorting to CGI to digitally recreate Ledger, Gilliam decided to film the ‘Imaginarium’ sequences using three different actors for Ledger’s character Tony: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Surprisingly, this works extremely well, and although most viewers will be well aware of the reasons behind this, it does not detract away from the storyline, as these characters merge in the same brilliant way that Gilliam blends reality with fantasy in the film.

Welcome to the world of 1,000 year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his travelling company of performers, which include his beautiful daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), illusionist Anton (Andrew Garfield) and midget Percy (Verne Troyer). Unbeknown to his daughter, Parnassus has gambled with the devilish Mr Nick (Tom Waits) and lost, meaning that Mr Nick is to have possession of Valentina on her 16^th birthday, which is just three days away as the film begins. Yet, always the gambler, Mr Nick places one last wager: ‘the first to five souls’ between Parnassus and himself keeps Valentina. The arrival of the mysterious Tony, first portrayed in a poignant shot of Ledger hanging by his neck and apparently dead, changes the dynamic within the company as Parnassus prepares to save his daughter.

It is by entering through a magical mirror in Parnassus’ possession that both the characters’ and Gilliam’s imagination is let loose. For a child, this new world is full of chocolate and video games, for a particular woman it is a haven of shoes, jewellery and forbidden sex.  Although there is a vast amount of CGI in these scenes, there are also realms in the ‘Imaginarium’ that are created from cardboard cut-outs – much more like Gilliam’s surreal settings in ‘Brazil’ and ‘Time Bandits’.

The similarities to Gilliam’s past work don’t end here; there are nods to Gilliam’s contributions to Monthy Python, most evident in a musical scene where policemen dance in fishnets and heels, and the darker ‘reality’ scenes by Battersea Power Station are strangely reminiscent of the fantasy elements of ‘Twelve Monkeys’.

Despite the stellar cast, and the wonderful blur of bizarre fantasy and magical realism, the film’s finale is disappointing. It seems slightly incohesive, even for a dream-like sequence, and definitely requires a second viewing to work out the fast-paced ending.

Yet, ending aside, the film visually remains one of Gilliam’s finest works, and merits a great review, particularly considering the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the film.  Ultimately the viewer is left with the final words ‘A film from Heath Ledger and friends’ which really echoes the overshadowing feel of the film, for despite the film’s brilliance, it will forever be remembered as Ledger’s last living work.

‘An Education’ is the coming-of-age story of Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a sixteen year-old Twickenham schoolgirl. Both beautiful and clever, Jenny has high hopes to be educated at the esteemed Oxford University.  One day Jenny meets David (Peter Sarsgaad), a charming older man who gives her a taste of the London highlife. Jenny is soon thrown into a life of parties, fine dining, drinking, and luxurious clothes. Influenced by David’s beautiful, but vacuous friend Helen (Rosamund Pike) and reluctant playboy Danny (Dominic Cooper) Jenny is easily swept into this new world that is far away from her mundane existence of Latin homework and cello practice.

Through David’s charming ways, Jenny’s protective parents are soon under his spell, and Jenny’s perfect grades and aspirations for an Oxford education fall by the wayside. The coming-of-age story is formulaic, yet not dull, and it is inevitable that this seemingly perfect world and romance will collapse around Jenny with disastrous consequences.

Bearing in mind the recent resurgence of Beatlemania, the release of the film and its 1960s setting seems to be perfectly timed. Yet ‘An Education’ begins in pre-Beatles 1961, and Jenny is not touched by the sense of liberation and feminist spirit that is typically associated with the Swinging Sixties.  In this sense, the film is a brilliant insight into the British education system of the 1960s. Yet this is not the only sense of education that the film offers its audience, as it also explores systems of class, the loss of innocence and the destruction of the idea that all parents are perfect.

Despite the wonderful script, some surprisingly amusing moments and the beautiful cinematography (especially in the Paris scenes), once the film is over there is a slightly unfinished element to it. The ending seems to wrap up events very quickly, whilst not fully explaining certain circumstances. The hurried closing scene is an anticlimax and features a voiceover by Jenny, a technique that is not used during the film until this scene.

Despite the disappointing end, the rest of the narrative and the standard of acting in this film compensate. Although the character of David could have been more charming, and Jenny a bit more naïve in order to make the central romance more believable, the performances are very engaging. With a real age of 24, Mulligan succeeds in playing the 16 year-old Jenny convincingly, yet also thrives at making Jenny appear older as her relationship with David matures. With only a few films under her belt, Mulligan has been highly praised for her role, and her performance as the ruined Jenny makes ‘An Education’ well worth watching.