Review of Goats (2012) by Sara B — 24 Aug 2012

So sad about Goats. It looked like it would be entertaining, if not meaningful, in a coming-of-age-kind of way. But no. The best acting comes from Graham Ellis whose portrayal of a teenager grappling with his dysfunctional family and his place in the world seems accurate and touching. Everything else about the movie though was a disappointment.

Let's talk about Goatman for a minute. What is that?? As big a fan as I am of David Duchovny, I have to say this character was both pathetic and baffling - a Big Lebowski-wannabe in a petting zoo. He doesn't seem to have any real wisdom to share, just a sort of existential laissez-faire masquerading as depth. As shown by the fact that we don't know his name (is he Javier? Is he Steve? Is he just "goatman"?), we have no idea who he really is or what he's about. But in spite of that, the character carries no intrigue and provokes no curiosity about his nebulous past. He's a stoner who lives in a pool house and walks around with goats. When he cleans himself up, he's a clean-shaven stoner walking around with goats.

And why goats? I have known goatwalkers and it seems like someone caught wind of that idea and thought it would make a colorful, intriguing character around which to wind a coming-of-age story. Just add goats - and voila: instant wisdom and hilarity. Sadly, it's not that easy. The goats, like the boy, don't seem to mean all that much to Javier/Steve/goatman, who seems barely less narcissistic than Ellis's mother.

What is sad is that we're supposed to believe that because Javier initiated Ellis into the world of weed and walking around with goats, somehow he has connected with Ellis. As if by virtue of being the one crumbling, questionable pillar of stability in an otherwise shallow and shifting world, he has helped to shape Ellis into who he is. It seems to me more true that Ellis has become the compassionate and aware young man he is in spite of his neglectful upbringing, not because of goatman's influence. If the title of the movie is "Goats," it seems like the goats should have either some major importance to the plot OR some serious metaphorical implications. I didn't see either. They seems like a cheap prop to appeal to the audience, used maybe because baby seals or dolphins wouldn't hold up in the desert heat.

The redeeming value of the movie is that it successfully demonstrates the shifting nature of relationships and the journey that is life with a crazy family. Ellis's father, presumably with the help of his new wife, makes huge progress in becoming a real human being. He is the only one who goes to bat for Ellis and appears to actually care about the kid. That is slow in coming but its eventual arrival is part of the painful growth process Ellis is going through; it yields the only positive note in the movie. The father's character was somewhat more multi-dimensional and evolving, whereas the mother, her boyfriend, and goatman seemed trapped in their shallow personas. Just as the desert backdrop could have served to represent something about Ellis's journey, so too could have their characters been portrayed with greater depth and subtlety to add to the meaning of the story.

Everyone I saw the movie with thought it was sad. For varying reasons, but it was unanimous.