Review: The Monuments Men

Set in 1944, as WWII seems to be headed in the wrong direction for Hitler and Germany, US President Roosevelt (unseen) assigns a bunch of art experts with the task of locating artwork stolen by the Nazis (for Hitler’s own private collection), and returning the pieces to their rightful owners. They have to go through basic training first, of course. Matt Damon plays Clooney’s right-hand man (an art restorer) who is given the job of trying to enlist the help of frankly disagreeable French museum curator Cate Blanchett, who helped catalogue the art for the Nazis but isn’t remotely sympathetic to the Nazi cause whatsoever. She’s a tough nut to crack, though, claiming to not know where any of the stolen art is. The rest of the team are played by Jean Dujardin (an art teacher), Bill Murray (an architect), Bob Balaban (an art critic), Hugh Bonneville (a Brit art historian), and John Goodman (a sculptor).

 

I think a lot of people unfairly had a bug up their arse with this 2014 war movie from director/star George Clooney (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, “Good Night and Good Luck”) and his co-writer Grant Heslov (“Good Night and Good Luck”), based on a true story detailed in the book by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. Yes, Cate Blanchett ends up somewhat wasted, yes I found its message of importance in preserving art in the context of WWII and actual human lives being lost to be a slightly hard pill to swallow. However, if you go into this film thinking it’s going to be anything other than a slightly less madcap 2014 version of 1970’s underrated “Kelly’s Heroes”, please stop watching movies right now. Go to the opera or something, you snob. Who cares if the actors never really disappear into their roles? This is not “Good Night and Good Luck”, and it was never meant to be anything like that. It’s not like every movie Clooney and Heslov make has to be a docudrama, for cryin’ out loud. This is old-fashioned war movie entertainment, the kind of thing that I’m rather partial to myself. It’s no “Dirty Dozen” or even “Kelly’s Heroes” in terms of quality, but it’s a more than respectable throwback and I don’t think it’s trying to be much more than that. True story or not, it’s “The Wild Geese” as imagined by an art gallery owner.

 

Whatever one might think about the merits of trying to save cultural items during a time of war for future generations to learn from and appreciate, it’s a helluva story (Failed artist stealing priceless works does sound amusingly petty I must say) and I’m surprised it wasn’t turned into a film sooner. Perhaps it’s for that very reason, the fact that it’ll divide people a little. If you can get over that thought (helped by having some of the ‘real’ military men in the film being annoyed with having to deal with these art guys telling them what to do, not to mention it’s the last stages of the war), it’s an entertaining film with a great cast.

 

My main problem with the film is that while every moment with Bill Murray (who gets one truly beautiful, moving scene I won’t describe) and Bob Balaban is absolutely wonderful, those moments are few and fleeting (Ditto John Goodman, who although likeable as ever, is admittedly way overweight for his role to be remotely credible). Balaban manages to be immediately funny without even saying anything. It’s also a bit of a shame that Clooney and Damon spend a lot of the film apart, because they have a relaxed chemistry on screen that is appealing. And as I said earlier, Cate Blanchett’s character ends up playing a very minor part in the story, though she’s wonderfully defiant and snobbish.

 

If the idea of a less action-oriented modern take on old-fashioned war classics like “Kelly’s Heroes” and “The Wild Geese” sounds like your idea of fun (I suppose it’s a little like “Three Kings” as well), this certainly won’t fail to entertain you. Yes it could’ve and should’ve been better, but please don’t go into this expecting a serious-minded, arthouse docudrama. Hardly likely to top anyone’s Top 10 of 2014 list, but geez, just enjoy it for what it is: Entertainment. Top-notch, rat-a-tat music score by Alexandre Desplat (“The Ghost Writer”), who also appears on-screen as the Frenchman whom Damon befriends.

 

Rating: B-