'It was the greatest art heist in history'

Rating: 5/10 (23 May 2014)

Something went wrong in transforming history onto the big screen. Based on a book by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter and adapted for the screen by director George Clooney and Grant Heslov, this true story gets all Hallmarky despite the theme and a fine cast. The problem is that the mystery has been removed and in its place are series of actor shots paying homage to the real monuments men of history. As a result we really don't get to know about any of them and the mission becomes a game, a dangerous and courageous at times game, but a game nevertheless.
Based on the premise of Clooney's character Frank Stokes, 'You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they'll still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it's as if they never existed. That's what Hitler wants and that's exactly what we are fighting for' the film concerns the gathering of a groups of arts oriented men to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves following WW II and return them to their owners. It is based a true story The Monuments Men is 'an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys - seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 - possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.' The hoopla from Sony so states.
The cast includes George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and Hugh Bonneville as the disparate rescue squad. The best performance in the film is Cate Blanchett's well considered role as Clara Simone, the only one who seems to have an original idea in her mind. Dimitri Leonidas impresses in a small but significant role of a Jew who stays in company with the Monuments Men. It could have been written better and acted with more commitment, but as a movie it is good entertainment.