History Saviors

The Monuments Men, much like its director and lead star George Clooney, is solemn and earnest.

And all about Madonna. Well…ish…and not about M, exactly, but about the sculpture depicting the Madonna of Bruges.

And that’s A-OK, for the movie is not an epic Oscar contender (which, I guess, is probably why the powers that be shifted its release from last December to today) but it does tell an interesting story about a part of World War II history that, y’ know, few are likely to know.

I know I didn’t – and I didn’t even think about. And that’s like, little ol’ me talkin’, someone who got a very Euro-centric education, as far as history is concerned (thanks, French school!). I’d never heard of the titular fellas until now.

A platoon of historians and museum curators, the real-life Monuments Men were a sort of art-loving SEAL Team 6 tasked by Franklin Delano Roosevelt with a mission to recover stolen renown works of art (like the aforementioned sculpture or the Ghent Altarpiece) before the Nazis could destroy them as Hitler’s Reich began to crumble.

Leave it to Clooney to educate us, right? I think it’s quite clear by now that he’s a guy who is unwavering in his love of making the kind of movie he likes to make – something like The Monuments Men, which, yeah, sure...tells a small story but that so perfectly captures the bigger picture. What those men (played by actors including Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, and John Goodman) and one essential lady (a French curator portrayed by Cate Blanchett, with a much-too-severe accent) did was important.

Which makes the movie important.

Now, is The Monuments Men perfect? No. Is it supa-good? No, I don’t think so.

It is alright-good, though.

The cast play like a vintage, at-war Ocean’s crew, and everyone involved brings a little something to the table, from the top down.

Clooney, of course, has his last-movie-star-of-Hollywood charisma; Damon proves an adept second banana when he’s with the fellas, and a comedic charmer of a gent while he’s off courting the assistance of Blanchett’s character; while the rest, Goodman and Dujardin and especially Murray and Balaban, play off one another rather nicely and effectively in intimate duo little missions of their own.

The movie’s big flaw is its tone, or its lack of a consistent tone, actually. It’s too funny a proposition – complete with an irresistibly score by Alexandre Desplat that evokes the war films of yore – to be taken seriously, and, like I said, too earnest and solemn for its own lightness.

It’s an enjoyable time, but there’s a reason why Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have the market cornered when it comes to WW II depictions. Perhaps it’s time Clooney take off the white hat and set his good intentions aside. They seem to be sticking him into one gear.

My Rating **1/2

Photo: Sony Pictures.