BEFORE: Well, my goal was to make this film line up with Memorial Day, so I succeeded, thanks to the last-minute addition of "Jarhead". George Clooney and Matt Damon carry over from "Syriana", and I face another linking decision after this. This one has so many stars in the cast that it's something of a nexus film, I could go a lot of different ways after this one - or at least I could have, if I hadn't watched those Wes Anderson films already. More on that later.
THE PLOT: An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.
AFTER: I'm going to assign a rating now, before I go and read the "Goofs" section on IMDB, or learn any trivia or behind-the-scenes info that will cause me to lower the score, because I really liked this one. It felt in one way like one of those classic war team-ups, maybe not "The Dirty Dozen", but more like "Kelly's Heroes". I got something of a "Great Escape" vibe too, only the men had to break into Germany, not out of it. And the cast calls to mind "Ocean's Eleven", but again, in reverse since they're not stealing, they're un-stealing. While I'm at it, let's throw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in the mix as well, since that film also told us Hitler was an obsessive art collector. And what the hey, "Saving Private Ryan", for telling the story of a small mission set against the backdrop of larger campaigns like Normandy.
Enough comparisons, because I think this film could become a classic on its own. It's based on the true story of a platoon of art historians, architects and museum curators who were tasked with rescuing stolen masterpieces as the Nazis were retreating, and restoring them to their rightful owners if possible. The mission isn't just impossible, it's really unlikely, given that the Nazis had years to rifle through French and Belgian art collections, were able to cherry-pick the ones they liked, burn the ones they didn't, and ship the best off to, well, wherever they were going to build the FuhrerMuseum.
For extra pathos, the platoon is comprised of men unskilled in military protocol and a few screw-ups looking for redemption - but they represent boots on the ground seeking information for a very specific purpose. One has to gain the trust of a French woman who aided the Nazis in looting the Louvre, and is subsequently branded a traitor. She won't trust the American, because he's a curator for the Met in New York, and she's convinced he'll loot the collection for his own ends. But these are men who end up risking their lives behind enemy lines to preserve art.
OK, so the real Monuments Men numbered 345 people from 13 countries - and some of them were Monuments Women. Forgive the film for boiling their number down to 7 in order to tell a coherent story. The film still managed to keep three or four plotlines going (with our heroes chasing down different leads) without getting all incoherent, like "Syriana". I'll allow them to use some characters as amalgams to represent the exploits of several personnel.
OK, now I've read some of the complaints about this film on the IMDB forums, and I just don't agree with them. Some people say the film was poorly structured, some wish it had been more serious, some say the music ruined the film, and it's like they're talking nonsense. I would have nominated this for an Oscar over films like "Her" - wait, I think that's the wrong year. This is a 2014 film, so it would have been up against "Birdman", "Boyhood", "The Imitation Game", "The Theory of Everything", "Selma", etc. Wow, that was a tough year. I mean, every year is tough, but if this could have come out in calendar 2013 it might have had an outside chance.
Maybe you have to know and appreciate art. I studied art history in high school and though I haven't been to a museum in a while, I know a Vermeer from a Van Eyck. The question becomes - is art worth dying for? And obviously the answer is yes, especially if you work in art (or film, or TV) because that's what you do when you devote your life to something, you give up your life, one day at a time. Every artist died for his or her art - even if your job is cleaning the street, you die for your job, so you'd better make sure you believe in it. Or maybe I'm really into this film because it appeals to my OCD - it's all about Hitler being a collector, and then once the art is recovered, it all has to be checked, catalogued, and returned to its proper places - I get chills just thinking about all that restoration of order.
Speaking of art, I face a decision tonight about whether to stick with the plan, or call an audible. It's something of a crossroads, the presence of two prominent cast members of "The Artist" (and that's a hard film to link to, believe me...) makes it seem worthwhile to abandon the plan - or should I follow the Matt Damon thread, since I know (more or less) where that one leads? But I've got another way to get to "The Artist", following the McConnaughey chain - and I don't think I have another way to get to the next Matt Damon film, so I think that's the deciding factor. I wish I could predict which path would get me to the end of 2015 in the best way, but there are too many variables. Anyway, I should be focused on getting the watchlist to be shorter, not fretting over the best order.
Also starring Bill Murray (last seen in "Moonrise Kingdom"), Cate Blanchett (last seen in "Blue Jasmine"), John Goodman (last seen in "Flight"), Bob Balaban (last seen in "Jakob the Liar"), Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville (last seen in "Notting Hill"), Dimitri Leonidas, Alexandre Desplat, Grant Heslov, with cameos from Matt Rippy, Nick Clooney.
RATING: 8 out of 10 flamethrowers
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