The film seems like a large retro-vintage playground that George and Grant created in which they and their friends could play.
As much as I want to love “The Monuments Men” with all the great actors in it (Murray, Goodman, etc) aside from a moment or two, it was just… flat. The premise is intriguing and right up my alley, but it struggled to hold my attention.
There is plenty of eye candy, and I don’t mean just the actors… it’s a treat for the eyes and ears if you love historical drama as I do. The wartime 1940’s era is well done, with not only the era appropriate trucks and aircraft which always excite me, but also the attention to detail that will suffice for an eager viewer like me. But, the sad fact is that, beyond the pretty picture, not even all this talent can save poor writing and directing (sorry, George).
George doesn’t do well when he’s acting and directing at the same time. He’s basically playing yet another version of himself in this film, and his now well-known head bob and tilting smirk have worn deep treads that he trips over now with each role. His writing and producing partner Grant Heslov makes an appearance as a military doctor and it’s painfully obvious he cannot act.
The best moments in this film come with Bill Murray and Bob Balaban whose characters are paired off as a team. Initially somewhat antagonistic toward one another, there is a moment during Christmas on the front when things change, and Murray and Balaban infuse the scene with some of the film’s only pathos. Not even the deaths of a few of the other “Monument Men” got more than a sigh out of me.
Bill Murray and Bob Balaban in ‘The Monuments Men’
The film starts out with a formulaic montage, passes through some nice scenery, tries to tell a story, shows us some nice art, has a good moment or two (the one that got the most emotion out of me was when the Men found caverns full of torched artworks), and ends just as benignly as it began. At least I learned something, however. I had no idea these Monument Men existed, and it is thanks to them that we can still enjoy many of the great works of art left in the world today. I just feel that their story deserved a much better treatment.
The film seems like a large retro-vintage playground that George and Grant created in which they and their friends could play, but instead of having a grand old time, it was akin to them smirking, laughing, pointing and saying, “Look at this! Ain’t this grand?” … and not much else.
