The Monuments Men

Rating: 3/10 (27 May 2014)

I loved this book, and worried when I saw that George Clooney was writing the screenplay, not that he isn't a multi-talented artist, but it's such a serious subject and he plays more "light-hearted" roles and I was afraid it would not be as serious a product as it should be. I hoped I wouldn't be disappointed in the movie, but unfortunately my instincts were correct. It just wasn't very good. I believe that if he had followed the book it would have had more coherence and flow. I wondered why he chose to change the characters' names. He considered in a fleeting way the backgrounds of the main characters, allowing their biographies to be revealed as the movie progressed rather than identifying them and their expertise at the beginning to help set the stage. I was anxious to see the story of how the Jewish boy ended up being the Monument Man, having his experience as a child come full circle in finding his grandfather's prints, but alas, there was only a brief mention of that. To be honest, there wasn't much of this movie that held my interest. To be fair, the art work was the best part. I felt like I was watching Danny Ocean solicit men to do a heist. It was really poor quality, in my estimation, and it could have been a great addition to anyone's DVD library.