The Monuments Men is the true story, based on a book by the same, of the men tasked with the mission of rescuing all of the works of art stolen by Hitler and the Nazis before they are destroyed forever.
George Clooney and Grant Heslov do a wonderful job bringing this story to life. They make you understand that what is most important for these men is that this art, which in many instances represents the best of humanity and entire cultures, is worth risking their lives for. You don't get much in the form of 1940s dialect, but the elegant writing is there, which seems to have been lost on this generation. When you watch this movie, you see touches of Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes and Ocean's 11. The only other film of Clooney's that I have seen was Good Night and Good Luck, and he has a really good eye behind the camera. The Monuments Men is no different. He does a great job of crafting these scenes that can make you laugh and then cry the very next scene. He also pays great attention to the artwork that is being stolen and rescued because that is the point of the movie. Right? To show just what is at stake here. Come on, folks.
I do wish this film would have come out back in December like it was originally planned so it could have been in better contention for awards season, but George Clooney didn't want to put out a film that was not 100% (the special effects weren't completed so this led to the film being pushed back two months). The writing in this film is very clever, very quick and very heartwarming. The only problem is that movies that are released around this time of year don't get the Oscar buzz like the films that get released in the fall.
Clooney does a great job allowing the actors to just be them, if that makes sense. Bill Murray, Bob Balaban and John Goodman don't really morph into any characters, but they still give such great performances with earnest, true feelings. Bill Murray and Bob Balaban have such great chemistry together and seem like they come from that generation. The movie has a lot of moments of levity, but there are certain moments where the movie reminds you that this takes place during World War II. George Clooney seems to love giving the emotional monologues in the films he writes, but he does such a great job at delivering the lines that you don't care and you end up wishing you could download the lines to save as your own inspirational "pick-me-ups". Cate Blanchett's performance is one of the few performances that took me out of the film. It just felt like there are other French actresses that would have been better suited for this role. Last but not least is Matt Damon who plays the honest guy-next-door probably better than anyone else, but I have seen him morph into characters better. There are moments that I can't talk about because SPOILERS, but there are scenes that do make you get a bit misty-eyed.
At the end of the day, it is my job to make sure that you spend money on the movies that are worthwhile and make sure that you don't waste your money on movies that are horrible. This is one of those worthwhile movies. Go see this film. This is a movie that anyone can watch. Watch on a date, with your folks or by yourself.
