World War II as been a fertile ground for Hollywood since the first shots were fired nearly 90 years ago (remember … WWII had its genesis in Asia, but is considered to have “officially” started in 1939 with Germany’s attack on Poland). Society, the clash of cultures and many subplots to the war have been explored, but one film is pretty much unique in its storytelling: “The Monuments Men.” A group called the “Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Program” was founded in 1943 as a way to work to preserve artwork during the final years of the war and post-war Europe. The film isn’t great, yet the cast is superb, but you’ll need to work a little bit at staying awake to watch it.
‘The Monuments Men’
(2014; 118 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by George Clooney and starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett)
SAVING MORE THAN JUST ART IN WWII
The subject matter of “The Monuments Men,” in which a team of Allied personnel work to save priceless artworks as Nazi Germany plunges toward defeat in World War II, is a unique and interesting storyline, but, unfortunately, also becomes the anchor for the film. “The Monuments Men” just tries to do too much with too little.
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“The Monuments Men” focuses on the team of seven men led by George Clooney as “Lt. Frank Stokes” and is basically broken into teams of two and the individual efforts of the real life monuments team are told through each small group. From the thefts of Michelangelo‘s Madonna of Bruges and Van Eyck‘s Ghent Altarpiece to the wholesale looting of a major gallery in Paris, you get a small slice of the wholesale looting of art treasures across Europe and from individual collections, especially those owned by Jews.
Yet, in telling each of the stories, including one member having to convince a Frenchwoman that the Allies want to return the artwork to its rightful owners, not keep it for themselves, the movie never manages to spend enough time on each and having to show, too, that “The Monuments Men” faced danger in combat, makes the film even shallower.
By the end of the film, you have found a movie that drags too many times; is uninteresting at times; and has to force things such as the death of two team members to convey the bond of the men.
Yet, you will have no problem enjoying the large, talented cast, from Clooney, who also directed the film, to Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman and an unexpectedly fine turn from Bob Balaban, who often has played a weasel-type character. Cate Blanchett has the only sizable character for a woman and does her usual superb job.
As for the top of the cast, here you go …
A two-time Oscar winner and six-time nominee as well as a four-time winner and nine-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Clooney pretty much comes off as himself in this one. Or, maybe as a WWII “Danny Ocean.” You don’t really get a feel for the character, but, then again, George was also behind the camera as well as in front of it. In the end, it might have done better for the film and audience if there was a different headliner. I enjoyed Clooney in the “Ocean’s” remake franchise as well as in the Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!” (click here to read my review). He was in the violent, vile vampire movie “From Dusk Till Dawn” with Quentin Tanantino (click here to read my review). He won his Oscars for producing “Argo” and for acting in “Siriana,” which was also a Globe win. In addition, Clooney has won Primetime Emmys, including for the series “ER” He earned an Globe nomination for directing 2011’s “The Ides of March” and I’m not going to plow through his CV here, so you can click this link to see all his awards …- An Oscar winner and four-time nominee and a two-time winner and six-time Golden Globes nominee (not for this one), Damon plays “Lt. James Granger” and is pretty much passive throughout the film by being in Paris until he steps on a landmine in one scene (it turns out to be a dud) as he’s tasked with gaining Blanchett’s trust to find the locations where the Nazis have taken the stolen art. He’s smooth and calm in a typical Damon effort. I liked him in “Ocean’s” remake franchise along with Clooney, as well as in the “Jason Bourne” franchise. He was simply sensational in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” (click here to read my review); wonderful in the poker movie “Rounders” (click here to read my review); solid in “Ford v Ferrari” (click here to read my review); and I most like him best in “Dogma” (click here to read my review). He won his Oscar for being co-writer of the screenplay for “Good Will Hunting.” Just like much of the top of the cast, I’m not going to review Damon’s full CV, so you can read it by clicking here … as well as by clicking here to read his complete list of awards and nominations …
- An Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner and six-time nominee (not for this one), Murray plays “Sgt. Richard Campbell” and it is a refreshing turn because outside of a few humorous lines, his dramatic acting is very solid and you, along with the Nazi, almost do a double-take when the camera turns back on him and he’s holding a .45 Colt while questioning one of the key German art thieves. It’s nice work throughout the movie for Murray as he appears to plod along, but actually keeps taking major steps forward. You don’t get a comedy pedigree any better than Murray’s with “Meatballs” (click here to read my review); “Tootsie;” “Ghostbusters;” “Stripes;” and, of course, the iconic and legendary golf comedy “Caddyshack.” He had one of the best-ever cameos in the horror flick “Zombieland” (click here to read my review) and you shouldn’t miss it. Unfortunately, he can do putrid work in stink-bombs, too, such as “Where the Buffalo Roam” about author Hunter S. Thompson. His Oscar nomination and Globe win were for “Lost in Translation,” however, I’m not going to review all his awards or other credits (99 acting credits as of the summer of 2024 since the first in 1973), so I’ll just give you links: Click here for Murray’s list of awards … and click here for Murray’s impressive CV of credits via IMDb.com …
- A two-time Oscar winner and six-time nominee as well as a four-time Golden Globe winner and eight-time nominee (not for this one), Blanchett quietly makes “Claire Simone” quietly the best character and best-acted character in the film. From spitting in Nazi’s glasses at the gallery to a prison scene with Damon where she was held as a collaborator after Paris was liberated, Blanchett commands each scene and managed a marvelous performance above a great cast. I also enjoyed her work in “Pushing Tin” with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton (click here to read my review) and she was also in “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. Blanchett won her Oscars for “Blue Jasmine” and “The Aviator” and her Globe wins are for “Blue Jasmine,” “Tár,” “I’m Not There” and “Elizabeth.” She was also nominated twice for Primetime Emmys for the mini-series “ America.”
- A Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy winner with four Globe nominations and 10 Emmy nominations, Goodman as “Sgt. Walter Garfield” is a bit of a fish-out-of water, but overcomes any casting problem with his talent. Goodman can play a soldier, but he’s not really come off great as an academic. Still, he does a nice job here and doesn’t hinder the film. He’s of course best known for tee-vee’s “Roseanne” and its spin-offs (I’m not putting a link to that garbage), but away from that trailer-trash environment and actors, I liked him as a bad cop in “The Big Easy” with Randy Quaid and Ellen Barkin (click here to read my review) and he’s in the wonderful cult fave “The Big Lebowski” with Jeff Bridges. He won his Globe and three nominations for tee-vee and one nomination for the film “Barton Fink.” He won his Emmy for the TV series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” Goodman is a versatile performer and has done TV series; TV comedy (10 episodes of “Saturday Night Live”); and even voiced animated movies and TV shows. He’d run up 173 acting credits by the summer of 2024 after the first in 1983.
- An Oscar and Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Balaban plays “Pvt. Preston Savitz” and manages to elevate his character from what you might expect from a short, bespectacled theater person. He conveys strength in simple posture as well as being able to level a threatening stare. A nice piece of casting to put Balaban in this one. He was in the terrifically inaccurate “Absence of Malice” with Paul Newman and Sally Field as a wormy prosecutor. I liked him much better in the HBO film “Recount” about the 2000 presidential election (click here to read my review) and he snagged one of his four Primetime Emmy nominations for it – back then, HBO films were not allowed in the Academy Awards. He was solid, too, in an even earlier HBO film “The Late Shift” (click here to read my review) about the war between late night hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman – he was a longsuffering NBC executive in that one. Balaban was nominated for both Oscar and Globe for “Gosford Park ”
I did not intentionally segregate out from individual attention Jean Dujardin as “2nd Lt. Jean-Claude Clermont” and Hugh Bonneville as “2nd Lt. Donald Jeffries.” either because of their nationality or fate – they are a Frenchman and an Englishman. Both are excellent actors and do solid work and give substance to their characters. You will not be disappointed with their respective efforts. Dujardin has won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for “The Artist,” While Bonneville is a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominee for “Downton Abbey.”
It’s too bad that “The Monuments Men” didn’t better manage to capture the spirit of this small, yet important slice of the war. However, it is a decent film and therefore will stand on its own as showing a little-remembered side of WWII.
It’s difficult to judge Clooney’s work as a director since the film dips here into one type of scene (dialogue) and then rises to another (some combat) and all this after the team is formed at the beginning of the film where he tries to show the audience the personality of each man. Blanchett’s scenes at the gallery with her German overlords gives hope that Clooney, who has directed films such as “The Boys in the Boat” as well as for tee-vee,
Everyone with even a smidgen of knowledge of WWII knows that some art was salvaged; some was never found; others were in turn stolen by the Russians moving in through Germany from the east; and some were tragically destroyed by the Germans as they faced the bitter end in defeat. Interestingly, the “Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Program” (which was much larger than just the team in the movie) also worked in Japan after the war and included women in its ranks. Click here for a more complete history of the Monuments team …
“The Monuments Men” was the 41st ranked film at U.S. theaters in 2014 with $78 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. The No. 1 film of the year was “Guardians of the Galaxy” with $332.9 million; “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I” was second with $313.2 million; and coming in third was “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” with $259.7 million. The other films from 2014 that I’ve reviewed are:
- “Draft Day” (very bad sports effort) – click here for my review
- “Fury” (solid war flick) – click here for my review
Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):
- Damon reportedly replaced Daniel Craig as Craig had a conflict in his schedule. Thank goodness! Craig’s single emotion on screen is as if he’s having a bowel movement and he’s been a horrible “007.”
- Directly from IMDb.com: “Motoko Fujishiro Huthwaite, who died on 4 May 2020, in Taylor, Michigan, was the last of the Monuments Women, the group of men and women whose actions are depicted in this movie. Born Motoko Fujishiro on 24 August 1927 in Boston, she was sent back to Japan with her mother and after the war being bilingual was part of the Monuments Men operations in Japan. She got the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015 for her work.”
- Bonneville’s birth name is Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams.
- After “The Monuments Men” received some negative reviews, Clooney reportedly sent an email of apology to the head of Sony Pictures.
- Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “John Goodman claimed in an interview that making this film was the most fun he had ever had making a film.”
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