Review of The Monuments Men (2014) by Grant S — 27 Sep 2018

Interesting and original idea, poorly developed and executed. 4/10.

1944. With the tide of WW2 turning against Germany, the Allies set up a team to find and retrieve hordes of priceless art, stolen by the Germans during their occupation of Europe. Due to the fear that the Germans will destroy the artworks, the team need to be as close to the frontlines as possible, putting them in great danger.

An interesting and novel concept, as the search and recovery of the artwork the Nazis stole actually happened, and was a tremendous feat, yet the story is hardly known nor told. So the movie had the potential to show the search in a gritty and edifying manner.

Unfortunately, in going from concept to script, The Monuments Men goes from good to mediocre and just gets worse when filmed. Written by George Clooney and Grant Hersov and directed by Clooney, the finished product is sloppily written and amateurishly directed. Cheesy, sanctimonious and not historically or militarily correct, the movie starts badly and never recovers.

Instead of being an edifying drama, Clooney tries to throw in humour, lowering the tone, and then the humour is very weak and unoriginal. Even the comedy skills of Bill Murray and John Goodman aren't a match for a poor script.

It feels like an Oceans movie: assemble heaps of friends and other big-name stars, give them back-slapping dialogue and make it feel like one huge in-joke.