Review of The Monuments Men (2014) by Facebook U — 31 Mar 2015

I like a lot of things about George Clooney but I'm beginning to realize I don't really like him as a director or writer. My first viewing of his w/d work was Good Night and Good Luck, and that was glossed over by an amazing lead performance.

I read the script later on, it wouldn't make it on the outside. And I feel the same way about The Ides of March and this film. This should have been a home run for me - I mean it's a period piece, a WWII movie even, and it's about artistic masterpieces - it's visually arresting with incredible landscape shots.

But it's this bizarre, episodic, hunky-dory thing that falls into every elementary trap of a historical film - it lacks cohesion, narrative focus, and character development. The delivery of the dialogue is really flat too, and all the serious dramatic moments are really undercut.

Clooney's bland speech is reminiscent of Costner. It's right up my alley so it's basically impossible for me to hate it, but gosh darn it, I don't see how many others would enjoy it.