According to the latest aggregation of opinions on
Rotten Tomatoes,
George Clooney’s
The Monuments Men
hasn’t fared very well with most of my critical brethren. But I find myself
inclined to give it an appreciative thumb’s up, if not a full-throated roar of
approval. And not just because, as a minor-league history buff, I am reflexively
fascinated by accounts of efforts to retrieve art masterpieces plundered by Adolf
Hitler’s minions during World War II.
Clooney’s movie – which really makes me want to take another
look at the documentaries
The Rape of Europa and
The Architecture of Doom –
is an intelligent and entertaining mix of stranger-than-fiction fact and
respectfully plausible invention, adapted by Clooney and co-scriptwriter Grant
Heslov from Robert M. Edsel’s
The
Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, And the Greatest Treasure Hunt in
History. It’s a tale of unlikely heroes – art experts, most of them
middle-aged American guys, charged with locating and saving stolen artworks
even as war rages in Europe – and while it rarely crackles with suspense, it
never fails to engross.
As director, Clooney displays uncommon generosity and
conspicuous good taste, giving most of the juicy scenes and colorful dialogue
to his co-stars – Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, John Goodman, Matt Damon and Cate
Blanchett are among the notables performing far beyond the call of duty – and providing
carefully calibrated comedic touches without ever undermining the seriousness
of his true-life drama.
A few reviewers have described
The Monuments Men as an old-fashioned wartime adventure, and I
wouldn’t disagree with that appraisal. Keep in mind, though, that there’s
more than one fashion that’s old. While some may liken it to a Hollywood
crowd-pleaser of 1940s vintage, I thought Clooney's movie was structured and paced more like
some episodic, star-studded international co-production of the 1950s or ‘60s. Oddly
enough, there were times when it reminded me a lot of Carl Foreman’s
1963 anti-war drama
The Victors –
particularly when, as though taking his cue from Foreman’s film, Clooney makes potently
ironic use of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Not that that's such a bad thing, you understand.
By the way: Just in case you’re interested,
here (at the 3:45 mark) is
how Foreman did it.
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