great story not particularly well done

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2015)

Someone who read this book described it as riveting. This is not a term I would use for 2014's Monuments Men, despite a wonderful cast that included George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, and finally, George's father, Nick Clooney.
The story concerns the real-life Monuments Men, who are assigned the job of saving as much art from the Nazis as possible. The Nazis, as has been highly publicized, stole art belonging to Jews, and pilfered valuable art, sculptures, and church icons from churches and museums.
The suspense and excitement come in bits and pieces. There are some stunning scenes as the soldiers go into mines and discover huge numbers of treasures. There are also some moving scenes, particularly concerning the character of Donald (Bonneville).
We really don't find out too much about the soldiers, but the script has a lot of humor and repartee in it, making it like the Oceans Eleven films Clooney stars in with Damon and others. A little of it is fine and even necessary, but there isn't enough pathos to offset it.
The best scene for me took place in the home of the dentist's son.
In reality, 350 soldiers made up the Monuments Men. It's only seven here.
This is one of those films about a fascinating, important, and interesting subject that makes one want to learn more about it. Unfortunately, despite some good scenes, Monuments Men isn't good enough to convey the layers of this amazing story.