The Monuments Men (2014)

An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.

Director:

George Clooney

Writers:

George Clooney (screenplay), Grant Heslov (screenplay)

Stars:

George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Frank Stokes
Matt Damon	...	James Granger
Bill Murray	...	Richard Campbell
Cate Blanchett	...	Claire Simone
John Goodman	...	Walter Garfield
Jean Dujardin	...	Jean Claude Clermont
Hugh Bonneville	...	Donald Jeffries
Bob Balaban	...	Preston Savitz
Dimitri Leonidas	...	Sam Epstein
Justus von Dohnányi	...	Viktor Stahl
Holger Handtke	...	Colonel Wegner
Michael Hofland	...	Priest (Claude)
Zachary Baharov	...	Commander Elya (as Zahary Baharov)
Michael Brandner	...	Dentist
Sam Hazeldine	...	Colonel Langton

Storyline

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys - seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 - possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

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Plot Keywords:

art | art expert | nazi stolen art | 1940s | world war two | 

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Taglines:

It was the greatest art heist in history

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some images of war violence and historical smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Frank Stokes (Clooney) stops his friend Sam Epstein (Leonidas) he is driving a Volkswagen Kübelwagen (courier car) which is the predecessor to the Volkswagen Thing (America 73 & 74) which was popular world wide from 1963 to 1983.

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Goofs

When Lt. Stokes turns around from viewing the slide of the map of France, he has a pencil in his hand and the clip board is on the table. In the next shot from over his shoulder, the clip board is in his hand and he then places it back on the table.

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Quotes

Richard Campbell: Right now, you wish that German had shot you.

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning of the end credits there are black and white photos of the real Monuments Men with some of the art they saved.

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Connections

Referenced in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: George Clooney/Governor Jeb Bush/Mavis Staples & Friends (2015)

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Soundtracks

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin
Performed by Nora Sagal

User Reviews

Extremely boring

I was not expecting combat action, or a whodunit type thriller, but I was totally disappointed with the slow pace and the total lack of suspense.

The dialog was not witty or even interesting. The actors are first class, but are wasted. Other reviewers have said that Kate Blanchett steals the show, but there is nothing to steal, and she hardly is in the movie, and when she does appear, we are left with a 'is that all?' feeling. Other characters play their parts as though they were visitors in the set.

There were two or three instances where I was tricked into thinking that something exciting was going to happen, but the subject ended abruptly and the boring and easily anticipated theme was back.

I wanted to like the movie so badly that I was successful in staying awake for about 45 minutes, but then was in and out until the last 20 minutes, where the pace picked up from snail to turtle pace.

Details

Official Sites:

Foundation about the people depicted in the movie Official Facebook

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German Russian French Flemish Dutch

Release Date:

7 February 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Monuments Men

Filming Locations:

Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,003,433, 9 February 2014

Gross USA:

$78,031,620

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$156,706,638

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Smokehouse Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1