PRINCIPAL
CAST MEMBERS
George Clooney: Harvard museum curator Frank Stokes
Matt Damon: art restorer James Granger
Bill Murray: architect Richard Campbell
John Goodman: sculptor Walter Garfield
Jean Dujardin: French art dealer Jean-Claude Clermont
Bob Galaban: theatrical producer Preston Savitz
Hugh Bonneville: painting teacher Donald Jefferies
Cate Blanchett: French art expert Claire Simone
REVIEW
Probably the greatest treasure hunt in history, the film
tells the story of a little-know unit during World War II. With great attention
to detail (except for a few exceptions noted below) it captures the look and
feel of wartime Europe.
Although there is a lot of switching back and forth between
the teams it’s not too difficult to follow their efforts to find the stolen art
treasures. The acting is uniformly good (as you would expect from this A-list
of actors) and the odd amusing moment is a welcome relief.
CLASSIFICATION
for violence, mature themes, smoking.
FOR
NITPICKERS ONLY
- The architectural model in the movie is not the Fuhrer Museum; it is the Volkshalle another of Hitler’s grand monumental projects to be constructed after the war.
- Claire has James over for dinner and the bottle of wine is three quarters full yet she says “we’re out of wind, would you like a cognac?”
- Walter receives a 45 rpm record which he then plays; trouble is, this format of records was not available until 1949, four years after these events took place.
P.S.
The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program
was established by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. Known as the
Monuments Men the group of 345 men and women (not 7 men) from 13 countries (not
3) were tasked with the job of protecting cultural treasures as best they
could.
