Why I Saw It: Intrigue from the change in release date from December to February and, in general, I'm a George Clooney fan.
Cast: This is the kind of cast that George Clooney can pull together, which I mean as a good thing. It's got a little bit of everything: his buddy coming in to give it some star power (Matt Damon), a beloved comedic star (Bill Murray), a recent Oscar winner (Jean Dujardin), a star from a TV (Hugh Bonneville), a journeyman character actor (Bob Balaban), a guy who the Oscars has always somehow ignore (John Goodman), a fresh young face (Dimitri Leonidas), the man himself (George Clooney), and a supremely talented actress (Cate Blanchett) to prevent this from being a complete sausage fest. Each actor brings to the movie exactly what you'd expect.
Plot: The basic synopsis is an easy one. It's the story of a group of art experts who go to Europe toward the end of World War II to save pieces of art from the Nazis or Russians. There's a couple items of significance they are especially looking for but the plot is not more complex than that. The structure is less of a single narrative and more like a collection of adventures along the way. It reads less like a novel and more like a collection of short stories. Most of the characters air paired of for the majority of the time. Little time is spent developing the characters. The movie relies on a lot of understood tropes for effect. Instead of showing bonding, the audience is supposed to assume it happened and feel bad when someone's partner dies. That kind of stuff. As a result, very little of the drama felt sincere. The comedy though, that all played very well. Let's not forget. Clooney is the director who gave us Leatherheads and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. He isn't always aiming for a Good Night, and Good Luck feel. One of the big questions raised by this film is whether preserving this art should be weighed above people's lives. I don't think it gives a very good answer although I get what they are trying to say. That would describe a lot of this movie: I get what they are going for but the execution isn't there.
Elephant in the Room: I see it moved out of the Oscar season. Smart smart smart smart move there. This is not an Oscar movie. Anyone who ever thought it could be was dazzled by the names on the call sheet. It is too messy and not serious enough about itself to be an Oscar movie. Imagine The Men Who Stare at Goats, only with a soundtrack that thinks it's Saving Private Ryan.
To Sum Things Up:
Look, I can't really recommend the movie. It's not exactly bad. It's one of those movies where you are like "Oh, so that's how they kept busy". It's like Pirate Radio: it won't be remembered in a decade. When it gets an Oscar nomination next year for, say, sound mixing, I guarantee that most people I'll talk to will say "was that this year?". If you are planning to see this movie simply because George Clooney is in it or Bill Murray, it'll deliver what you want. If you are looking for a movie with an engaging hook and that gets the full potential of the combined talent that worked on it, you'll be disappointed.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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