Part 'INDIANA JONES', part 'OCEAN'S ELEVEN' and part 'KELLY'S HEROES'!

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2014)

'THE MONUMENTS MEN': Three Stars (Out of Five)
George Clooney directed, co-wrote, co-produced and stars in this comedy-drama war flick about a group of soldiers, during World War II, who set out on a mission to retrieve stolen art masterpieces from Nazis. The film was also co-written and co-produced by Grant Heslov (a usual partner of Clooney's) and is based on the book 'The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History' by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter. It features an all-star cast which also includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett. The movie is a bit of a mess, amusing at times but poorly put together by Clooney (who just can't seem to prove much talent as a director).
The story is loosely based on actual historical events and revolves around a team of soldiers (during World War II) who are assigned (by FDR) to rescue famous pieces of art from Hitler's army. Frank Stokes (Clooney) leads the unit (which is nicknamed 'Monuments Men') and puts together an odd group of art historians, museum directors and curators (who all know very little about actual combat). Stokes knows that the Nazis will destroy the stolen art and he thinks it's worth risking lives in order to preserve our culture. His platoon of friends agrees with him and they embark on the adventurous journey, into Germany, together.
The film raises an interesting question about whether preserving art and culture is worth the cost of lives or not. I think it's up to the person putting their life in jeopardy; people brave life-threatening dangers for all kinds of things that are important to them. So the message of the film might feel more meaningful to some viewers and more trivial (or even offensive) to others. It's funny that Matt Damon did also co-star in another World War II flick which raised the question of whether it's OK to risk multiple lives to save just one (in an attempt to relieve the grief of the soldier's mother); 'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN'. I do like the idea of the movie and what Clooney was attempting to do but he has a lot to learn about making a consistently solid film. The movie has good moments and decent performances but it's too all over the place to confidently recommend it. At times it does feel like part 'INDIANA JONES', part 'OCEAN'S ELEVEN' and part 'KELLY'S HEROES'. If a movie stitched together with all those different pieces sounds like fun to you you might really enjoy it!
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