I just watched this film and was impressed by it's fun tone with something to say. It reminded me in that way of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books, which is perhaps not that bizarre considering the filmmakers and author are English.
The lightness of touch with which the story is told is the most impressive thing to me. It's an effect I've only seen achieved a handful of times. I think of films like MASH, Annie Hall, and Three Kings (also with Clooney). To illustrate what I mean, I want to talk about one throwaway scene in the middle of the movie, but it requires a bit of set-up.
Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) is going through training to become a psychic soldier in an experimental branch of the US Army called the New Earth Army. This is basically a group of soldiers who are to be trained to fight with love and new age-y concepts instead of the typical violence and destruction. As nutty as that might sound, it's even nuttier. His drill seargent is Bill Django (Jeff Bridges), playing his role with just a hint of The Dude.
At one point Django has the men all free-style dancing in a big room. Everyone except Cassady is dancing. He's just standing there looking around until Django comes up to him and orders him to dance. "I don't like to dance," Cassady replies with a scowl. "Yes you do," Django answers, "you just forgot."
Then there is a flashback which shows Cassady as a kid doing a goofy dance to a record in his room. His father walks past (a stereotypically repressed businessman from the fifties), sees his son dancing, and throws a can of beer into the room, knocking the record off the player. "Stop dancing, you look like a queer!" His father says as the boy frowns and becomes still.
The flashback ends and, after a direct order from Django, Cassady joins the others and begins dancing in the same goofy way he did when he was a kid.
Fantastic film, you should watch it.
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