Underrated. I think some people missed the point.

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2014)

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. After the not-so-great reception it got I was expecting a failure. I think most people expected a war movie of the traditional kind.
However... I couldn't really pin-down a failure anywhere. Let me explain why.
Like other successful war movies The Monuments Men does a good job of painting war-torn Europe as a cold and dreary place where people are trying to hang on to any tiny thread of sanity and normalcy they can grasp before it all goes to hell. It makes you think about war and why mankind does what it does.
The thing that struck me the most about this movie was the polarizing nature of War vs. Culture. The subtlety behind the screenplay is rather unique, imo.
This war in particular was about many things. Hitler not only attempted to annihilate a people... but he also attempted to steal every shred of precious art he could get his hands on. The MM were tasked with stopping that. How could anyone who read a synopsis or watched a trailer for this movie think it was supposed to be anything different?
I'm a better person for having watched this movie. I never knew about these guys and that was the point. I hope Clooney continues to make screenplays and movies that revolve around such selfless people as the MM... and never stops trying to inspire us with stories of such import.
This isn't Saving Private Ryan... or Band of Brothers... it's not about Soldiers. It's about a group of ordinary art lovers who task themselves with rescuing history and in doing so BECOME soldiers.
I loved this movie. I thought some more could have gone into the recruitment process... and maybe a little bit more could have gone into Cate Blanchett's part... but overall I enjoyed all of it.
8 of 10 for me...