You can see The Monuments Men was well shot. I liked what Clooney was doing, putting an Ocean's Eleven flavor in a World War II setting, and the Director of Photography Phedon Papamichael does quality work on films with large exterior landscapes like Nebraska (2013), The Descendants (2011) and 3:10 to Yuma (2007). Furthermore, you couldn't ask for a better cast. There was a lot of expectation for this movie to pick up Oscar and Golden Globe nods which is why it was originally scheduled for a December release (but later moved to February). In spite of its assets, however, in the end it leaves you somewhat disappointed.
Three main issues that made me think this could have been a gem, if only. First is that it couldn't decide if it was a comedy or a serious historical movie. Usually a drama has some humor, and a historical comedy has drama. This one felt like a tug of war between the two, and in the end there was no clear winner.
Second was the editing. They could have shed 3 or 4 scenes without sacrificing the story, and trimmed a few others to keep the movie from lagging. But then in the DVD Bonus Features you see them shoot a victory scene with large crowds; why was that cut from the theatrical version?
And third, as phenomenal as Alexandre Desplat's score was, some scenes felt like they were missing music, again giving us a tug of war between a lush Hollywood production and French minimalism. Maybe it was re-edited at the last moment and some scenes were left bare.
So there you have it, one of the most interesting stories of World War II that could have been an awards favorite. I put it somewhere in the Top 15 non-violent, non-atrocity WWII films. They are (not necessarily in order):
1. The Bridge on the River Kwai 2. The Imitation Game 3. Casablanca 4. Sophie Scholl 5. The Sound of Music 6. Judgment at Nuremberg 7. Ike 8. The Reader 9. A League of Their Own 10. Valkyrie 11. The Book Thief 12. Five Graves to Cairo 13. South Pacific 14. The Monuments Men 15. 1941
Three main issues that made me think this could have been a gem, if only. First is that it couldn't decide if it was a comedy or a serious historical movie. Usually a drama has some humor, and a historical comedy has drama. This one felt like a tug of war between the two, and in the end there was no clear winner.
Second was the editing. They could have shed 3 or 4 scenes without sacrificing the story, and trimmed a few others to keep the movie from lagging. But then in the DVD Bonus Features you see them shoot a victory scene with large crowds; why was that cut from the theatrical version?
And third, as phenomenal as Alexandre Desplat's score was, some scenes felt like they were missing music, again giving us a tug of war between a lush Hollywood production and French minimalism. Maybe it was re-edited at the last moment and some scenes were left bare.
So there you have it, one of the most interesting stories of World War II that could have been an awards favorite. I put it somewhere in the Top 15 non-violent, non-atrocity WWII films. They are (not necessarily in order):
1. The Bridge on the River Kwai 2. The Imitation Game 3. Casablanca 4. Sophie Scholl 5. The Sound of Music 6. Judgment at Nuremberg 7. Ike 8. The Reader 9. A League of Their Own 10. Valkyrie 11. The Book Thief 12. Five Graves to Cairo 13. South Pacific 14. The Monuments Men 15. 1941