Score: ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)
Long Story Short: The Monuments Men offers a rare wide release, dramatic film packed with stars in the middle of winter. Clooney, serving as director, co-writer, and star, picked an interesting new angle on the thoroughly filmed WWII - the effort to save Europe's art. The cast is likable of course, and four of them in particular are great. But the film tries for so many angles on the story that little focus develops until well into the second half. Worth seeing, but also a missed opportunity in many ways.
The early winter months of 2014, while being utterly terrible in terms of weather, are producing more films that are intriguing than is usual for this time of year. I think there will be several more movie reviews on the way in the coming weeks. When I first saw the trailer for this film, back in the fall, it immediately caught my attention as having a star-studded, likable cast and an interesting WWII premise. A poor score on Rotten Tomatoes (low 30s) wasn't nearly enough to overcome the attractive elements of the film. The Monuments Men was directed by George Clooney, and stars Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, et. al.
Based on true events, The Monuments Men sets the scene in the early 1940s as the tide of WWII starts to turn. In the States, Frank Stokes (Clooney), a museum director and lieutenant in the Army, requests that a task force be formed to retrieve, secure and protect the vast trove of art and cultural artifacts in harm's way in Europe. He gets permission - but leads only a seven-man "unit" comprised of fellow art professionals. The seven are excited and determined to get to their task, but the going is slow and frustrating as their mission is constantly relegated to second, if not lower, priority.
With such an overwhelming mission going against formidable odds, the team breaks up and spreads across Europe. They join forces with French resistance, Belgian priests, and others to prevent disastrous cultural destruction by the Nazis. While they achieve some remarkable successes, there are disappointments too, as well as heartbreaking losses.
Clooney managed to wrangle together a dream team for his WWII film. Although I mention Clooney as an actor first, I should note that even if he does have the most screen time it isn't by much, and he gives attention to the others pretty equally. Clooney, as the Monuments Men's team leader, basically plays Clooney: the charming, slightly mischievous yet calmly in control and solid as a rock lead. It's always fun to watch that, but I'm not sure I buy it as a good fit for Lt. Museum Director. The others basically play themselves, too, though. Matt Damon, the youngster of the group, gets the film's lone, slight romantic bit. He's here for his gentle earnestness and object of some humor. Cate Blanchett plays the French contact, a small role that she does well but is poorly written.
Bill Murray and Bob Balaban (you'll probably recognize him) team up, and are the most fun part of the film. Murray is of course hilarious, but he maybe does the best job acting by putting on his serious face and letting the humor flow naturally from the confidence of his character. Balaban is also amusing as a prickly professorial type - a good contrast in style. Goodman and Jean Dujardin (from The Artist) also make a good team, and have some of the film's most poignant moments together. The last MM, played by Hugh Bonneville, is a bit of a stereotype as Clooney's old, washed-up old friend out for one last adventure. Beyond this considerable lead cast, there are no other notable roles.
It's funny that I was just talking about the delicate balance war films need to pull off, in my review of Lone Survivor. The Monuments Men goes for a lot: message film (importance of art); buddy film (humorous pairings); heist film (tracking certain pieces of art); as well as both generic perception of war (loss of comrades) and personal (effect on home front). That, as you can imagine, is a lot to cover in one film. Too much in fact; it does some parts better than others. It does the buddy parts well. Although it takes some time to develop, the Murray-Balaban and Goodman-Dujardin combos become the strongest parts of the film - they have the most powerful as well as the funniest scenes. The heist aspect is decent - again, takes some time to develop - thanks to the uniqueness of the circumstances; on the other hand, the sense of urgency could have been significantly stronger. Perception of war aspects are somewhat out of place, and should have been modified to instead emphasize the other parts. Finally, and strangely, the message of art's importance is not well developed. We are constantly being told how important it is, and what can be sacrificed to protect it, but when it comes down to it it doesn't feel like a huge difference between Clooney and co. racing to save art here, versus Clooney and co. racing to steal money in Ocean's Twelve.
***
There's no point in denying it: The Monuments Men is a disappointment, given the rich story potential and cast of stars. The film is a jumble at the start, bouncing from place to place and not providing a good introduction to any of the characters. As mentioned, it tries to juggle way too many different themes and styles resulting in some (the war-related) being there for the sake of posterity and others (the art theme) being left undeveloped and ineffective. And most of the stars essentially play themselves, with Clooney and to a lesser degree Damon not providing very natural fits for their characters. But, it's still a very likable, enjoyable cast all around - particularly the two aforementioned duos. The beginning might be a mess, but I was surprised how well the film started bringing the characters together in midstream. Even the story and script somehow become more focused and interesting from about the midpoint on, a tough task. What this all boils down to is that The Monuments Men is a significantly flawed but very watchable film. You can skip it in the theater, but give it a try on Netflix/rental.
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