The Monuments Men

This is their story. It is true. It is history. As a film, it is riveting, suspenseful, harrowing and exciting, and somehow, it also manages to be something rare among war pictures—a big-scale entertainment.

The Monuments Men fails in its grand ambitions, but it's still satisfying in bits and pieces, like a busted statue. Even a tribute made of shining fragments counts for something.

Clooney, for the first time in his directing career (“Good Night, and Good Luck,” “The Ides of March”) never finds the sweet spot, and never quite wrestled the script into a shape entertaining enough to make the liberties he and Heslov took with the facts worth it.

Alas, it's a throwback that's thrown its back out - limping along, trailed by battalions of stereotypes and ammo rounds of cliche.

The Monuments Men feels not just self-conscious but also a bit self-congratulatory, its creator squashing the spirit of adventure with too many grandiose lines about the Importance Of Art.

The problem isn't a lack of weight, but of lightness. It's stuck with lead feet for a historical caper and serves no other worthwhile purpose.

Clooney has transformed a fascinating true-life tale into an exceedingly dull and dreary caper pic cum art-appreciation seminar — a museum-piece movie about museum people.

What is wrong with people? I really think people have become desensitized to what a good movie is. It slowly started with the "professional" critics, and now, to my disbelief, the consumer. It's not just about this film being scored low, it's about others as well. Unless a movie has insane violence, meaningless nudity, infidelity, subjects that are taboo to most cultures, then it get's knocked down. Note that, when one of the characters in this movie has a chance to cheat on his wife, he takes the higher road and remains faithful. This is almost NEVER seen in movies anymore, hence, a reason why some critics didn't give it higher marks. People, movies are meant for entertainment, not just shock value. Is this movie really deserving below a 8 of 10? Below a 7 out of 10? George Clooney got it right making this film. A return to what movies are truly made for. Feeling, entertainment, chemistry with the viewer, and relativity. Once you begin to break down every scene in a movie, pick it apart, compare it to "the book," and intentionally look for flaws, then you've lost sight of what going to the movies is all about. Why even go? Save yourself the time and $9, and breathe for a little while until you reset and can learn to enjoy films for what they are, an entertaining escape. I don't know, try making a movie yourself that has a fraction of emotion and meaning that this film does. Then, maybe you will come to appreciate a good film when it is staring you in the face. The Monuments Men is a true return to American film making. Does it deserve a 10? No, but I will rate it with such, so that more people won't be turned away from it because of unnecessary negative reviews. Sit back, breathe, and enjoy it.... oh and come off your high horse and stick to what you get paid to do.

Although some of the writing in this is way off, the cast is good and the story is is quite charming.

The characters were good, and the second half was also. But, the start wasn't good, at all. I was bored and didn't like the script. But, once the second half started it became better. Even then though, it went fast. I liked it though, worth a watch.

The idea would also be good as an alternative to the classic film about the Second World War, but the plot is rather flat, with little content and ends up boring in large parts, without ever giving a change of pace to the story.

Such an immediately boring and flat film from such an accomplished classically bent creative team and a potentially rich premise. But something is off, the writing, the pacing, the editing, the visual style and the directing are all woefully sub par. Maybe this is a **** version of a much longer much slower film but as it is it’s too plain and unexciting to feel relevant and not artistically connected to great heist/chase/war films from the past feel inspired by great cinema of the past.