Alex Gentile
Connector Contributor

But don’t get too excited. Albeit with an all-star cast and an endearing subject matter, “Monuments Men” falls short in some very obvious ways. From the complete lack of character development to the numerous awkward moments in scripting that leave one feeling somewhat uncomfortable, the movie leaves a lot to be desired considering who is involved.

Starring George Clooney (who was also the director), Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Kate Blanchette, Jean Dujardin and Bob Balaban, several Art experts are enlisted by the United States Government to travel to Nazi-occupied Europe to save all the artwork being hoarded for the “Fuhrer Museum”. In an effort to save European identity and history, these men set out on a quest that, on its surface, is an incredibly endearing struggle. But the buck stops here.

As far as character development, the only one with any depth is Blanchette’s character Claire Simone, an art curator abruptly and unreasonably suspicious of the American involvement in the retrieval of the art pieces. Sadly, it’s only her ability to hold up an accent that achieves this. James Granger (Damon) is a director of the MET in the States, from which this suspicion is based. Granger speaks in bad French which gets old before the first line. Bill Murray ostensibly plays himself which, in another setting might actually pass. Clooney’s character Frank really only elaborates on the “importance of art” throughout the movie, making things too sentimental for the cast involved.

The relationships between different characters (Damon and Blanchette, Goodman and Dujardin, Murray and Balaban, Cooney and everyone else) has no basis. The groupings have no back-story or buildup of any kind, and the separate dramas that define and end those relationships seem abrupt. There’s also a strange sexual tension between Simone and Granger that exists for only a passing moment and fades, sacrificing what could have been a very juicy part of the story.

Unfortunately, the direction and writing let this pass and die.
One has to admit that the scene where Murray and Balaban look over things they’ve been sent by their families and the subsequent playing of the 45 over the camp’s PA system is one nugget of war cinema to be treasured. Though it was a moment reserved for a secondary character, it stole the entire show which, when paired with the rest of the movie, makes the whole production feel even less impressive.

For someone who helped write “The Ides of March” (and also starred in “Monuments Men”) Grant Heslov really dropped the ball. Overly sentimental and vapid, much of the clutch lines (only as far as proximity is concerned) emote nothing from the audience because you’re too busy asking yourself, “C’mon, really?”

Needless to say, I couldn’t hear much going on because a gentleman two rows up quite literally snored throughout the whole thing. From what I could gather about the film there wasn’t much to begin with. It makes one almost wish there is a remake because, as I said before, the story is an incredible one based on true events. Unfortunately just having big names in a movie does not equate to a big movie. Better luck next time.