The Monuments Men

This surprised me quite a bit. I wasn’t sure whether this would be silly or super-serious or grim … and it was a little of all of that, but also something else: heartwarming. It’s  about group men of who took it upon themselves to implore the US government to allow them to secure art stolen by the Nazis so as to return it to the rightful owners. What should sound like a typical, mindless, MURICA HELL YEAH military movie is anything but. The military found their mission an annoyance; their Resistance contact in France didn’t trust them. Even both the Roosevelt and Truman administrations found it dubious at best. And yet, these men were dedicated to trying to preserve that which gives life flavor, art. For the lives being saved, they’re trying to give back that which was stolen from the victims of the Reich. The only flaw in this movie for me is the editing in the first half. With the troop dispersed to different locations in occupied Europe, the narrative can feel a bit fragmented, and the editing doesn’t always weave the storylines the best. But otherwise, this is a charming movie. I’m sure there’s some Hollywood gloss on the story, but for the sake of the movie, it’s heart is in the right place. To these men, giving back what was taken is crucially important, and I love the way it’s portrayed. It just gave me a nice feeling watching it. If you’re looking for a big shoot-em-up kind of movie, this isn’t what you want. If you’re looking for some patriotic fist-pumping kind of movie, you’re still in the wrong place. This is about a small corner of the war, and the men who took it upon themselves to save the culture of a continent most weren’t even from, because it was the right thing to do. Sometimes, that kind of story is just a nice thing to experience.