Chinese Whispers - The Monuments Men

The Mediocre Men

Earlier this year, I was able to visit the Etihad Stadium to watch my beloved Manchester City take on Crystal Palace to hopefully gain three points to help fight for the Premier League title. They had strung an impressive record of home victories before them so confidence was high when facing Palace who were at the bottom of the table.  All these famous stars and power players in the City squad, forming such an impressive arsenal, but that day, they could only muster a measly 1-0 victory. It was disappointing to say the least.

The Monuments Men tells the story of a group of American art experts and appreciators who travelled to war-torn Europe during WWII to salvage priceless works of art that were being destroyed in the bombings of several European cities.  George Clooney directs and stars in this story based on real events, along with Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin and Cate Blanchett.

(Firstly, before I speak about the film, may I just describe the cinema in which I watched it?

As you may or may not know, I am currently travelling around Southeast Asia and I managed to see The Monuments Men with my girlfriend in a shopping mall's cinema in Patong, Thailand.  The two tickets I bought, along with a bottle of water and a HUGE cup of Coca-Cola cost me the equivalent of just under £5; an unexpected but very welcome total.

As we were ushered to our screen, we took our seats in the centre of a beautiful auditorium.  The standard confectionary adverts and schlocky horror-movie trailers were played for approximately ten minutes, before a presentation of adoration for the King of Thailand started. It was completely surreal. 

The opening music and placard was subtitled with the caption 'Please stand to honour our King'. We looked around, and all other cinemagoers, Thai and foreign, were standing, so we did similar too. A minute or so later, the tribute finished, we sat down and the film started. Surreal experience over.)

Back to the film.  There is no doubt that when you organise this amount of talent in a film, you're going to see some amazing acting, but the talent is wasted if it isn't arranged into an ensemble. Here is where we find The Monuments Men.  Individual performances are impressive, such as Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist) holding their own alongside veteran Hollywood performers, but the story is separated into several strands.

Bill Murray flies off to Belgium, John Goodman is sent to Northern France and Matt Damon tries to free the potentially helpful Cate Blanchett, arrested as part of the French Resistance in Paris. With the narrative so wide instead of being kept together, unfortunately the attention to each thread is not spread evenly.  The film is sold as a bit of a wartime comedy-caper or WWII Ocean's Eleven, but this is hardly the case.  Romantic subplots are hardly given basis, antagonism turns to friendship in the blink of an eye and most characters hardly experience any kind of character arc.

The film tries to show how we are all affected by war, even if your intention is to protect, rather than destroy.  Clooney tries to demonstrate this by highlighting certain deaths that occurred over the salvation of art pieces, but they end up not being that devastating, as the audience haven't got to know the characters that well to care.

Of course since the film is based on real events, poetic licence can only go so far and Clooney couldn't have changed the script to fit conventional film plot stereotypes but the resulting storyline fails to gather any momentum. The only exciting section comes towards the end, after the main mission finishes and nothing apart from a few minor altercations raise pulses throughout the film.

The Monuments Men is a 'nice' film and I hate using that word, but it is the only word I can think to describe it.  It's not awful, not by a long shot, but with such a cast and story, it fails to live up to the potential that lied before it.  In terms of George Clooney-directed films, it falls way behind Syriana or Good Night, and Good Luck.  

The Monuments Men fails to push any buttons or take any chances, in storyline or direction, but still manages to get the job done.  A tepid 1-0 victory, despite the odds being greatly in their favour.

Rating - 4/10

Until next time folks, thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed what you read and you'd like to be kept more up to date with my posts, I can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Dunn-Reviews and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeDunnReviews - if you want to help the site grow, give them a 'Like' or a 'Share'!