Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett
It's World War II and the Nazis have just taken Paris. A centre of art and culture, the French capital is instrumental in the a plan being put forth by the Third Reich. Upon their victory, Berlin is to have a massive museum, filled with fine art, whilst other art (namely by those openly opposed to Nazism and by Jews) is to be destroyed. Art expert Frank Stokes (Clooney) is commissioned by President Roosevelt (Michael Dalton) to assemble a crack team of art experts and servicemen to go to Europe and beat the Nazis to the endangered art.
Directed, partially written by, produced by and starring George Clooney, it could be easy to dismiss The Monuments Men as something of a vanity project. The film isn't an all-out Clooney exercise in self-congratulation but thankfully more of an ensemble piece that owes more of a debt to classic World War II movies of a bygone age where amidst the action and drama of combat there are colourful characters and, to be honest, a sense of fun.
Of course the film also calls to mind the Ocean's series of films that George Clooney starred in alongside Matt Damon, his co-star here as well and this element is a little crowbarred into proceedings within the ensemble cast. Given that the group assembled for the mission are significantly made up of older actors this also means emphasis is more on character than all-out action sequences. They may not be the kinds to go charging into battle, but there are some entertaining and humorous performances by the comedically-experienced likes of Bob Balaban, John Goodman and, of course, Bill Murray.
However, whilst the film has charm it also has a tendency to be annoyingly simplistic and incorporating some of the worst expectations you could expect from a film of this nature. It may not be a right-wing martial bloodbath, it still throws about a sense of being very America-centric. Of the ensemble of heroes, four are non-Americans (a very English Hugh Bonneville, English Dimitri Leonidis acting a little German, a very French Jean Duijardin and Australian Cate Blanchett...acting very French) despite the real Monuments Men being a much more collaborative effort from a larger group. This side-lining is also only made worse by later proceedings in the plot. Every change of scenery is also hammered in clumsily by an insistence to mention the city and country ("Paris, France" being a particularly egregious example).
The film also needed some tighter editing as much of the film (like an interrogation scene that is well-written but completely unnecessary to the plot) wanders on for too long but it does boast an impressive and likeable score by Alexandre Desplat, who has clearly been indulging gleefully in listening to the back-catalogue of Maurice Jarre and John Williams.
Overall, going into Monument's Men you might find yourself a little disappointed by the film's several and blatant flaws, but when looked upon as a tribute to the kind of films that would've had once been a home for Frank Sinatra or John Wayne, it can be enjoyed for its sense of old-fashioned fun which is, to be honest, a little lacking these days.
Next time, underdog nice guy Nick Frost reignites his passion for Salsa dancing to win the heart if Rashida Jones in Cuban Fury.
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