- Location: The Grand Cinema
- George Clooney's The Monuments Men is a film dominated by a single question: Is saving art from destruction worth people's lives? Actually, it is probably inaccurate even to phrase it as a question since everything about the film constantly and unequivocally screams "YES!" sometimes by literally having its characters discuss the point aloud. Nevertheless, the events depicted in the film, based loosely on the actual activities of the Allied "Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives" program in World War II, do serve as a reasonably convincing illustration that indeed art is worth the effort. The film isn't especially memorable or engaging, but at least you leave the theater in agreement with its central thesis.
- Assembling his team in a manner that owes much to The Dirty Dozen is Frank Stokes (Clooney), whose devotion to saving European art from the Nazis convinces him to enter the war even in his remarkably well-preserved mid-50's. Along for the ride are a collection of art and architecture specialists played by a stable of talented actors including Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, and Hugh Bonneville. None of these characters are particularly well fleshed out, although Damon's Lt. Granger probably comes closest by virtue of speaking bad French and getting to pry secrets from the withholding hands of museum curator Claire Simon (Cate Blanchett). Incidentally, as a reluctant French citizen accused of conspiring with the enemy, Blanchett rather effortlessly outperforms all of the men in the film, suggesting that perhaps the title should have been The Monuments Woman. But I digress.
- Certainly the biggest problem in The Monuments Men is neither its all-star cast nor its subject matter, which really should have made for a riveting story. After all, stealing back the world's most famous art treasures from the Nazis is something any reasonable person should be enthused about. Instead, the film is simply more boring than it should be, which is a real accomplishment given that some of the wartime plot points were surely embellished for dramatic reasons. The indifferent direction and constantly oversaturated cinematography don't help matters either, and the overall impression is one of a missed opportunity. Ultimately, I'd rather read Robert M. Edsel's book upon which this film was based and catch up with Clooney and the gang in one of the Ocean's 11 movies. Those aren't that great either, but at least they're never dull.
