By Megan Bianco
Eight years ago, a fascinating documentary titled “The Rape of Europa” appeared chronicling a period of World War II during which a small platoon of historians and curators tried to rescue priceless art from being destroyed by the Nazis throughout Europe.
Last year, George Clooney got a surge of inspiration to shoot his own screen adaptation of the event with his usual group of actors, as well as some new ones, as “The Monuments Men.” It’s now available on DVD and Blu-ray for San Diego viewers.
The cinema platoon includes Americans Frank Stokes (Clooney), James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban), Frenchman Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin) and Brit Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), with the help of French Resistance member Claire Simone (Cate Blanchett).
Monuments Men is being called “the greatest heist of all time” in a tagline for the film. While viewing it, one might notice that Monuments Men is almost like a WWII version of “Ocean’s Eleven,” but the ensemble seeks art instead of money, and Blanchett is the female role instead of Julia Roberts. Many of the actors here have collaborated before and seem to have kept their celluloid chemistry intact.
But while Clooney’s new biopic is fun and lighthearted, it doesn’t keep us as intrigued as Europa or entertained as Eleven through lack of heart and genuine thrill as a whole.
Megan Bianco is a Southern California-based movie reviewer and content writer with a degree from California State University Northridge.
