A family melodrama loaded with crass humor and a
coming-of-age story where the central character doesn't seem to learn much of
anything, Christopher Neil's directorial debut Goats suffers from a lack of focus and clarity. The film's bright spots are primarily
centered on David Duchovny's Goat Man "”who is also called, despite his obvious
Caucasian heritage, Javier"”a marijuana growing "goat trekker" who is apparently
a sort of father figure to bright teenager Ellis (Graham Phillips) and
landscaper for new age trust fund recipient Wendy (Vera Farmiga). Ellis is going off to Gates Academy,
the college preparatory school that his absent father Frank (Ty Burrell) attended,
a move that angers Wendy and leaves Goat Man without his only friend.
The film jumps between the point of views of Ellis and Goat
Man, with neither plotline collating until late in the film. Instead of actually moving forward with
things like plot or character development, Goats
tries to prod its audience into laughing at the film's casual homophobia,
misplaced gross-out gags, and a waste of Farmiga's talent as the most shrill,
unlikeable character in a film full of shrill, unlikeable characters. Duchovny is expertly cast as the
bearded stoner philosopher with no philosophy, and near the film's climax, Goat
Man's character has the closest thing the film has to an actual arc. For the most part, though, Goats operates not unlike the titular
animal"”wandering aimlessly and chewing at the grass.
