Iraq; an earlier, more optimistic stage of the war. A convoy of beefed-up armoured vehicles bristling with well-armed military muscle jumps the queue at a petrol station with a squeal of tyres and a cloud of dust. US private security goons with mirrored shades and twitchy trigger fingers stake out the forecourt, barking orders at the bewildered Iraqis and bickering about whose turn it is to fill up the gas-guzzling Hummers.

Across the street, another equally jittery American private security corps scans the street for signs of potential trouble. A shot is fired.

Both squads leap into action. Several hundred rounds of semi-automatic gunfire later, it becomes clear that they have been engaged in a devastating gunfight — with each other. At a time when films about the war have tended to be sombre, po-faced and self-important, The Men Who Stare at Goats is a timely reminder of the absurdity and almost comical stupidity of conflict.

This irreverent and very funny antidote to the worthy war pic takes its tonal cues from M*A*S*H and its star George Clooney’s last venture into the Middle East, Three Kings. The film may be set largely against the chaotic backdrop of the current Iraq war, but its heart is in an earlier, simpler time — a time when love and peace were briefly considered as a battle strategy and large quantities of LSD formed part of the US Army’s arsenal. Clooney stars as Lyn Cassady, former “psychic soldier” in the US military’s New Earth Army. Cranky crackpot? Possibly. Passionate idealist? Certainly. Clooney gives him gentle dignity, playing the role absolutely straight. The way that Cassady tells it, to the incredulous reporter Bob Wilton (an enjoyable turn from Ewan McGregor), he’s a highly skilled secret weapon.

He is trained in the art of invisibility; he can burst clouds with his mind (an ability with dubious operational advantages in a combat situation, surely). Most importantly, he can stop the heart of a goat just by staring at it. He is the product, he says, of an elite programme that encouraged psychically gifted soldiers to soup up their natural abilities. He is the result of an unholy marriage between hippy-dippy New Age flim-flam and the formidable might of the US Army.

Bob is understandably intrigued. The odd-couple pairing of jaded hack and peace-loving soldier evolves into something approaching a platonic romance.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is Grant Heslov’s second feature film as a director (his first was a little-seen golfing comedy, Par 6) but Clooney’s long-time friend and producing partner brings a sure hand and Coens-ish wit to this loose adaptation of Jon Ronson’s book. And if the film loses focus a little in its final act, relying a little too heavily on one key joke, the engaging silliness and sweetness of nature make this the first truly feel-good war film in a long time.

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