George Clooney’s new WWII film Monuments Men is getting toppled by critics, who have called it “exceedingly dull and dreary,” "risible," “unwieldy, overtly sentimental,” "nonsensical," “tragically short of momentum,” and ultimately spiraling “into a series of rambling, uninvolving subplots.”
Some foresaw trouble when the Sony/Fox co-production’s December 2013 release was pushed back, though Clooney insisted the change of date was due to visual effects delays. The trailers have billed the film as an epic World War II feature, but the mission of the men (to protect crucial works of art) and the odd mixture of big name cast members (including Bill Murray and John Goodman) undermine standard action-heavy, war film expectations.
So far, the critics haven’t exactly taken to it... Indiewire’s Drew Taylor rips the film from the start.
Considering how well traveled World War II movies are, it stood to reason that a different take would be welcome and somewhat tricky. Turns out it was even trickier than originally imagined and that for all of its best efforts, "The Monuments Men" remains an unwieldy, overtly sentimental (but still emotionally distant) epic.
Likewise, Variety’s Scott Foundas panned the “museum-piece,” stating,
...Clooney has transformed a fascinating true-life tale into an exceedingly dull and dreary caper pic cum art-appreciation seminar — a museum-piece movie about museum people.
A few more critic pull quotes via Rotten Tomatoes:
-The two leads do what they can with the sentimental material; it's almost a miracle that neither turns red with embarrassment (though this isn't going first on their clip reels).
-Promising pedigree aside, this nonsensical romance's a laborious entertainment.
-There are so many weird strains of tone-deaf subtext running through "Labor Day" that you have to accept the movie for what it is, a poorly written movie based on a poorly written novel.
-A risible, sun-kissed melodrama that is so ridiculously far-fetched, it would bring a blush to the cheeks of Nicholas Sparks.
So far, Monuments Men has earned a brutal 22% on the Tomatometer.
