The Monuments Men

There is something about George Clooney that makes him more than just a movie star.. He has the kind of screen presence that is more like old school movie magic than anything made with computers, today. This film has everything you need for an interesting World War II film about a story that deserves to be told. Based on a book by Robert M. Edsel, it's also directed and written by Clooney so that makes this a more personal war film that you would expect. I liked those touches he adds although they may come across to some as jingoistic and corny. I couldn't get enough.

The story is simple and upfront but it's the cast that made the film really sing for me. Bill Murray, John Goodman, Matt Damon and other great character actors join the fight to protect Europe's greatest treasures from the Nazi menace. They are an odd bunch of goofballs and malcontents but they have the knowledge that is needed to do the job right. I found myself wishing Clooney had created a longer movie so that more could be learned about the background characters because all of them have interesting stories to tell on their own.

 

One thing I found totally unbelievable was the relationship between Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett. It was totally unnecessary, just filled time and took away from the main story. I can see why the movie needed her character but Blanchett, as usual, just left me as cold as her character. Even when she was being nice I disliked her.

The film is not in the same vein as Kelly's Heroes and The Dirty Dozen, it's old fashion and gentler with only museum geeks as the heroes. I thought it was really well done and took me back to those days. I was told a fresh story with familiar characters and that made for an interesting Saturday afternoon matinee about war time good guys.

If you are interested in the real story, follow the link.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/22/the-real-monumentsmenhistorytrumpshollywood.html