For the first 40 minutes or so, I could not have been happier with this flick. A divorced reporter heads to Iraq, looking for adventure, and ends up engrossed with a secret military organization that, supposedly, can fight with their minds. Modern day Jedi Knights, if you will. In fact, that term is used often and is the basis for one of the movie's best jokes-- Ewan McGregor (no less than the former Obi-Wan Kenobi) plays the middle-aged reporter and is fairly clueless on all things "Jedi". Flashback sequences on the orgins of the "Jedi" center around Jeff Bridges; in full-on hippie or "Dude" mode. Guns, black ops, Star Wars and The Dude all involved in a plot that seemed pulled from a comic book?! Like I said, this movie couldn't have started out any better.

However, the movie seems begin to peter out as the gags die down and Kevin Spacey appears. The tone seems to change, with a little bit of conscience thrown in. It still maintains a good level of absurdity.... and shows us that it isn't really all that absurd when compared to some "normal" conventions. The final half of the movie seems to lose its focus and while the overall effort is enjoyable, this lack of focus keeps it from becoming a memorable flick.

I came away thinking about how much I liked the concepts. But wasn't too satisfied with the way things played out.