Review of The Monuments Men (2014) by Dierregi — 16 Mar 2014

George Clooney directed this old-fashioned movie and starred in it looking like Clark Gable. Despite the negative reviews, there is nothing basically wrong with the movie. It tells a straight story, based on facts. It has a short introduction, where we get to meet all the main characters; a development, where we follow the different characters in their adventures and an end that wraps up the whole film.

Granted, today’s audience, used to fast editing, special effects, gore and over the top scripts may find it difficult to appreciate what is really old school story-telling. However, some of the reviews I read do not make any sense: somebody complained about “lack of character development”, but they should know that in movies with a large cast, character development is hardly a priority.

Somebody else mentioned that it is “absurd” to leave gold and art in cave. Well, that actually happened for real, as the retiring Nazis could not carry all that stuff with them. Just check the historical records….

Other complained about “yet another movie about WWII”. Perhaps they should check in advance which movies they are going to see, if they do not care about WWII movies.

I agree about the fact that given the premises it could have been a better movie, but I still found it entertaining. Murray, Damon and Clooney were good as usual and even Blanchett, in a small role, managed a decent performance.

Definitely not a masterpiece but an enjoyable movie to watch, especially if you like classic movies moving at a slower pace.