Far from Monumental

Rating: Null/10 (12 February 2014)

This film is not recommended.
The Monuments Men tells the supposedly true story of a group of art lovers who fought to preserve the world's art treasures from the Nazis during World War II. Their on-going battle for acceptance from fellow Army officers and soldiers and their dangerous assignment takes them behind enemy lines and becomes the centerpiece for the film and its acting ensemble. This platoon of quirky artsy types join forces to accomplish their mission: rescue and retrieve art masterpieces and return them safely to their owners. The NEA would certainly gives its seal of approval and probably provide funding. I, on the other hand, found the film to be, shall I say, serviceable and competent.
Directed, written, and starring George Clooney, The Monuments Men takes this actual event and trivializes its significance by making it a predictable World World II melodramatic film that John Wayne would wholeheartedly endorse. Clooney plays Frank Stokes, an art historian and connoisseur of the finer things in life, a role perfectly suited for the actor. Stokes assembles a squadron of talented American aesthetes skilled in their own particular field of expertise: James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman) and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). He also adds to the mix one Briton, Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), one Frenchman named Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), and a Parisian mademoiselle / translator / love interest, Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett) to lend more international flavor and fervor to the cause. Needless to say, the names of these characters have been changed to protect the real-life heroes. The actors involved with this project should have asked for a nom de plume clause in their contract as well. All try their best to add some depth to their sketchy characters and have done better work than seen here.
There are some snags along the way, both in the film's plot and its execution. The film's major flaw is its script, co-authored by Clooney and Grant Heslov. It follows a throughly conventional formula with its one-dimensional types substituted for well-drawn characters who rarely resemble their real-life counterparts. (A romance between Simone and Granger is based on pure fiction.) The film is choppy and episodic as it jumps from one encounter to the next. Too many scenes consist of endless speeches decrying the weightiness of art, its cultural legacy, and America's stoicism above all else. It's as if the filmmakers need to convince themselves and their movie-going audience the significance of these brave men and their saintly quest. The Monuments Men constantly overstates their cause and effect.
But this is old-fashioned Hollywood movie-making, a patriotic crowd-pleasing throwback to a slice of American heroics of long ago. We've seen this all so many times before in better war dramas from the 60's. (Films like The Longest Day, The Guns of Navarone, The Train, The Dirty Dozen, and The Great Escape easily come to mind and are superior films worth multiple viewings. This film is not.) Production values remain strong and its period details are fine, the only exception being the usually reliable Alexandre Desplat and his intrusive and annoying film score that becomes a self-parody of war movie musical clichés.
￼The Monuments Men is informative and entertaining, but it never rises to the degree of exciting or memorable. Far from monumental, The Monuments Men becomes a mere footnote in the annuals of art and cinematic history. Their valiant story deserves better. GRADE: C+
ANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: jadepietro@rcn.com
￼NOTE: Movie Rule No. 87: Whenever a film begins with this phrase, "based on a true story, it isn't really.