I saw this movie last night with my dad and my brother. I'm writing this in a wood cabin, in front of a roaring fire, in a little town in northern Wisconsin. There's only one theater around here and the only movies they had playing were this one and "The Lego Movie". Sadly, my dad has an absurd universal hate for anything animated, and since he's the one footing the bill, we saw this film instead, directed and co-written by George Clooney.
This historical drama, based on a true story, stars an ensemble cast (George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujardin), who are all men with backgrounds in art tasked to retrieve works of art stolen by the Nazis in WWII. However, what exactly their backgrounds or expertise are, is never really made clear. We are introduced to the star studded cast in a montage which I don't mind in an ensemble film, but I was unsure of what some of the character's backgrounds really were. For example I left the movie not even knowing the name of John Goodman or Bob Balaban's characters. From the start of the film we are then methodically and meticulously introduced to numerous works of art and told of their immense importance to our society. This is done mainly by Frank Stokes (Clooney), who leads this squadron of old men and misfits, but the message of importance is delivered almost every time with an air of great nobleness, that I struggled to believe. I felt like every ten minutes, Clooney, or another character didn't think that I quite understood, delivering a monologue stating that if they didn't get these art pieces back, SOCIETY WOULD CRUMBLE! Their intention of making the audience care, backfired, as I quickly grew tired of the art history lectures, and found myself thinking a few times, "Who cares?"
Coinciding with the inflated grandiosity of the movie, was Clooney's struggle to find the right tone. I think even Alexandre Desplat, a composer I quite like, struggled with matching the score to the movie. At times, the music sounded very much like "The Great Escape" (1963), even having whistling. But then a few scenes later, the score would change into a big majestic orchestral piece more suitable for a straightforward epic like "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). Clooney's attempts to make it lighthearted, infused with that "Ocean's Eleven" like humor fell flat a majority of the time. Deadpan legends like Bill Murray and Bob Balaban serve as the comic relief, but even with their immense comedic talent, aren't able to save an incredibly weak script. Then, when a more serious moment is needed, the scenes felt forced and awkward.
One element of the film I did not mind though, was the cinematography. Clooney does a good a job of setting up the many different locations of the war with long shots and good special effects, making the war torn towns look very realistic. Many close ups are used on the A-list stars as the movie is heavy on dialogue, rather than action. However the editing of the movie was rather disjointed. There is a side plot in the film that involves Matt Damon's character and Cate Blanchett, who plays a French informant to the allies. The movie could have left her out entirely and it wouldn't have really affected the overall plot. Also, there are scenes when they try to add some depth to the characters, but many times they are only a minute or two long. It almost seemed like they forgot to have character development, throwing in quick scenes that still failed to really add anything interesting to the characters. For example there is a scene that lasts about two minutes where Damon talks to a French guy who's helping him out, and they talk about their kids, making it seem like the farmer will be important, but then we never see him again. Many of these scenes too end with a fade or a dissolve, which actually made the film seem more choppy.
Overall this film was a huge misfire. The trailer made it seem like it would be a fast paced Stephen Soderbergh type film, but instead is a dragged out and quite preachy of a movie. I can bet that if bad guys ever stole the last print of this work of "art", the U.S. army would say, "You can keep that." I give this a 3/10 and really wish I could have seen "The Lego Movie" instead.
