Featuring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, Cate Blanchett
Director: George Clooney
Writer: George Clooney, Grant Heslov (bsed on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter)
Movie website: www.sonypictures.com/movies/themonumentsmen/
Australian release date: March 13th, 2014

Reviewer: rolanstein
Verdict: The classy cast should have guaranteed a winner, but they struggle due to the disjointed narrative structure and inadequate characterisation.

Story:
A unit of specialists in arts-related fields is sent to Europe in the later stages of WW2 to track down and retrieve art masterpieces stolen by the Nazis. Based on a true story.

Review:
It’s mid WW2, and the Nazis have been systematically plundering private and public collections of some of Europe’s greatest art treasures, stashing their bounty in hiding spots in das Vaterland, the choicest pieces intended for Hitler’s planned Führermuseum. Enter a small unit of American and Euro specialists from arts-related fields evidently prepared to die in pursuit of the stolen art.

The commander is curator Frank Stokes (George Clooney), who assembles the “team” after rather effortlessly managing to convince American military chiefs of the worth of the mission – saving Western culture, no less. His crew are an unlikely lot. Some are a bit long in the tooth for the daring deeds ahead of them, some more than a tad eccentric (these arty types, you know). Irreverent witty exchanges abound. Too much in fact, and for too long. The comedy is OK initially as the team is getting to know each other in England, but begins to jar as oh-so-consciously “entertaining” when the serious business of tracking down the stolen art gets underway. Continue reading The Monuments Men Movie Review →

The following critique is the work of long-term Boomtown Rap commenter Karen, who describes herself as a “cinema lover and reading junkie”. Karen’s astute and often challenging remarks and observations in response to my reviews have kept me on my toes as a critic. It recently occurred to me to ask her to consider doing some reviewing in her own right. She graciously agreed.

There’s a scene early in The Artist that exemplifies its themes and charms us at once: George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), the silent movie idol, playing the lead in one of a string of genre dramas (A Russian Affair, A German Affair), must cross a dance floor en route to a meeting with an army officer. Through take after take, he prepares his face for derring-do, complete with narrowed eyes, and seeks his rendezvous. But he bumps into our heroine, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), an extra in this film-within-a-film, and must dance with her briefly. Each time, the two leads, feeling a mutual fascination, dance too long, or get the giggles, and the scene needs to be reshot. Watching these actors playing characters playing characters is not only a delight – it’s also a précis of how acting style has evolved since the filmmaking business was a pup. Continue reading The Artist Movie Review →