“The Monuments Men” was originally one of the frontrunners for this past Awards Season, with 2-time Oscar winner George Clooney serving as star, director, co-writer and co-producer of the WWII drama. Sony gave it a prime December 18th release date, in hopes of bouncing back from the underwhelming Awards Season play of Clooney’s previous directorial effort, the 2011 political thriller “The Ides of March”.
However, in October, the studio decided to take the film out of Oscar contention and move it to the crowded, and much-less important month of February. When asked about the change, Clooney said that the special effects needed to be improved. Now, after seeing “The Monuments Men”, I’ve come to several conclusions. First of all, there are hardly any special effects, so that can’t be a legitimate reason for the move. Secondly, it’s no longer a secret why the astute and serious Daniel Craig dropped out of the project (he was quickly replaced by Clooney’s pal Matt Damon).
But above all, the best bet for why Clooney and co. didn’t want “The Monuments Men” battling it out during Awards Season is that the film simply isn’t very good. And the majority of the blame has to go to Clooney, who fails to craft a suspenseful, dramatic, effective war movie. Along with Clooney and Damon the cast is packed with Hollywood A-listers, including Bill Murray, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville (“Downton Abbey”), Cate Blanchett and Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”), to tell the true story of how a small group of art historians and museum directors from across the globe became soldiers and
went to Europe during the final weeks of WWII to try to prevent thousands of precious art pieces taken by the Nazis from being destroyed. Works of art are not simply things to be admired and enjoyed, but they represent lives and cultures.
This quest to save these priceless pieces of history had the potential to serve as a tense and inspiring film. Yet “The Monuments Men” is the complete opposite. The tone is often light and bubbly, the script dominated by wisecracks, jokes, goofy situations, and an aggressively upbeat and annoyingly loud score by the multi-talented Alexandre Desplat, often at the most inappropriate times. I expected this amazing story to be filled with drama, emotion, and
sophistication, especially coming from Clooney. Not until nearly halfway through
the movie do we get some nice, individual dramatic scenes, (though they don’t mix well with the rest of narrative).
The best of these involve a relationship between Damon’s James Granger and a French secretary played by Blanchett, who despises the Nazis and knows much more than she’s letting on. These scenes are so good they actually feel as if they belong in another movie. Much like Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle”, Blanchett’s Claire is the key piece to the puzzle. The Oscar winner (who just won again for “Blue Jasmine”) is excellent.
“The Monuments Men” is rated PG-13 for some brief action/violence, language, and smoking. It’s appropriate for teens and up. This is a tame, disjointed, and very disappointing treatment of a fascinating historical event that deserved better.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Monuments Men” gets a C-.