Monumental cast in a monumental disappointment

Rating: 3/10 (16 April 2014)

"The Monuments Men" was a film I'd been looking forward to seeing in some time. I'm a big fan of war films, and equally a big fan of most of the impressively assembled cast. This could be classified as an adventure/war film that flirts with the idea of trying to be a comedy. But funny it is not, and is in fact a monumental disappointment, not doing any justice at all to the story.
George Clooney plays a re-incarnated version of various characters he has played before, as he leads a team of museum curators and art experts on a mission to war-torn Europe in a bid to save art from the Nazi's and by the films end, the Russians. The film's premise is promising, and should have made for a cracking film, but then falls down pretty much after the first scene. Other than Cate Blanchette (who is amazing in most of her roles) the rest of the star-studded line-up were terrible. Matt Damon was bland in his role, Bill Murray looked disinterested throughout, John Goodman looked as though he's fallen off the wagon again, Jean Dujardin had this stupid smirk on his face before meeting a stupidly conceived demise, and Hugh Bonneville didn't actually do anything except die. Even the two German baddies featured were unconvincing. There was no real action, and absolutely no emotional attachment to any of the characters. I thought it was a shame that more of them weren't killed. The Americans all survived (sigh), with the two foreign participants both dying (sigh). This film was dreadfully dull and far too predictable.
In all, a hugely disappointing film. I wouldn't even bother with this on a DVD night. In fact, I want my twelve bucks back, George. I'm not happy at all. Next time I'm in Como, I'll be dropping by your villa looking for a refund. You've been great in other films, but your performance in this one really sucked... along with your direction. Maybe stick to more contemporary themes in the future. And don't be making any more films with Matt Damon because you'll ruin him if you produce another turkey like this one and he's in it.