Monuments Men (2014)

[Edgy MD]

As World War II is winding down, an allied group, led by a lieutenant/art expert played by George Clooney, is tasked with finding and saving pieces of art and other culturally important items before their destruction by Hitler during World War II, or annexation by Russian forces coming from the East.

As neither civilian nor military leadership shares his notion very deeply that victory is hollow without preserving our cultural artifacts, no soldiers of typical military age are committed to his team, so he enlists mostly aging and gimpy professors, curators, and dilettantes who previously were considered unfit for the war effort. John Goodman, Bob Balaban, and Bill Murray are here, but so is Matt Damon, so it ain't all a ragtag team, but it's a pretty ragtag team, even with Private Ryan aboard.

Cate Blanchette appears too. Can't just have a bunch of men in a movie, war movie or no. Checking it out on Wikipedia now, I see that Clooney directed, too. No wonder he gets all the good speeches.

[Vic Sage]

eh.

see Frankenheimer's THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster for a MUCH more compelling version of a similar story.

[Edgy MD]

I was scarcely above "eh" too. Very episodic, without much of a narrative arc at all. A modestly good scene here, or maybe even there, and then nothing building off of it. Gave me the feeling of a movie where the principles were just flying in for a day or two and flying out. And the editor was left to compose it into something.

Most effective --- and that's not saying a lot --- as a vehicle for George Clooney to continue positioning himself as our onscreen national conscience. Even stuck his dad in there, because of course he did.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Two thumbs up for The Train.

Kuyme-U9-es

[Vic Sage]

funny how they sell THE TRAIN as an action film in that trailer; i guess it is, but i never thought of it like that. And they never say (or even imply) what's on "the train", unlike the promos for MONUMENTS MEN, which directly took on the philosophical questions related to the value of art and its cost in human lives.

[Frayed Knot]

And the lesser-known the actor was (to American audiences anyway) the more likely he was to get killed.
Now who could have seen THAT coming?

[MFS62]

Better than I thought it would be. Not as good as The Train, though.
Wifey likes Cate Blanchet, but her comment was "George Clooney is starting to look old".


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