Bland mix of propaganda loosely based on real events

Rating: 6/10 (11 May 2014)

I couldn't connect to the movie at all. It started like a WWII Ocean's Eleven, but the people in the "gang" had no chemistry and their characters were not expanded enough for the viewer to care. A lot of great actors in mediocre roles which were badly written.
Then there was the script itself. A lot of "oh, how horrible the Germans are" and "how civilized and caring are the Americans", with a bunch of other nations that were so sketchy that no one really cared about them. There were a few scenes that surprised me, like the one with the German soldier who just smokes with some of the Americans, then leaves. In a such cartoonishly one sided film, I was amazed to see that even Germans were human, a courtesy that was not extended to the Russians, for example.
Bottom line: a film devoid of empathy, filled with propaganda complete with heroic soundtrack. I have no idea what the real Monuments Men were like, but I highly doubt they were the walking clichés depicted in this film. I had to make an effort to watch it all. In the end, I regretted even that.