Good evening! Well, as with my Friday Spotlight, I got a little behind on posting film reviews and therefore, ideally, I will have two for you today. First up is one I saw a week ago now while on vacation, based on real events that transpired near the end of World War II. Hence, I give you “The Monuments Men”.
George Clooney both stars in and directs this based on real events adventure that finds WWII nearing its conclusion, and begins with Clooney’s Frank Stokes speaking to FDR and another government official about the fact that in the their impending defeated state, Stokes felt it was necessary to rescue art masterpieces that had been stolen by the Reich during its reign and return them to their original owners. Trying to appeal to the fact that these pieces represent not just art, but the soul of the cultures and peoples they were taken from, FDR ultimately allows Stokes to create a ragtag “platoon” of art experts, museum directors, historians, and curators to actually go behind the lines, INTO Germany, locate the art, and steal it back. So we have a group of 7 men: Stokes along with James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goo0dman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban), and Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville) who gather together, endure basic training together (most humorous, I must say), and then embark together to locate and save the art. As they make their attempts to do the duty they have been tasked with, obstacles arise between unsupportive US Army commanders, run-ins with remnants of the German army, and just having to face the horrors of war in general, none of which are things any of these men were truly trained for. Choosing to split up the group to cover more ground, we are also introduced to a French art museum curator named Clair Simone (the always excellent Cate Blanchett) who becomes a source of information about many of the Paris art that was taken and whom ultimately takes a liking to Granger as well. Having had to “work” for the Germans when they occupied Paris, she already has her own personal reasons for wanting to serve in the Monuments Men’s cause, though there is an initial air of distrust when Granger first approaches her. Through sacrifice and loss, the group pushes through to make sure their objectives are completed (even having to avoid some Russian entanglements as well!) and the cultural heritage of many places is restored in the wake of the Reich’s fall. There is a very solid ending moment to the film as we hear President Truman asking Stokes if all the effort and sacrifice was worth it and would anyone remember or appreciate what was accomplished.
The film has doses of everything. Drama, humor, and pathos all make appearances and the general storyline and pacing is enough to keep one interested, especially for those unfamiliar with this story (I know I had never heard or read about it) in the myriad of facets that WWII had. I cannot say words like GREAT and SPECTACULAR will find their way into my assessment of the movie, though. Obviously, with a cast that includes Clooney, Damon, Murray, Goodman, and Blanchett (much less superb character actors like Balaban and Bonneville), you would just WANT to expect a level of greatness, but it never reached THAT point for me. Clooney’s directing works fine, but I must admit, two of his other efforts behind (and also in front of) the camera, 2005’s superb true historical drama “Good Night, and Good Luck” and 2008’s period sports comedy “Leatherheads“, hold up stronger overall than this one. The rest of the cast is fine for the material given, but all of them have also had much stronger works to view and showcase their acting prowess. There were a few moments where the movie felt a tad slow, but never to the extent where I started looking at my watch wondering when it would end fortunately.
All of that said, I would personally state that “The Monuments Men” IS a film worth seeing. In looking up the actual people the story is based on, there were a few minor name changes and the ACTUAL total number of people involved with the group was over 345 from 13 nations, and you can read a bit about that and see the full roster here. As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thanks for reading!
I saw it, and my assessment of it was pretty much the same as yours. It was a nice memorial to the real Monuments Men… but other than that, it was just “okay”.