The Monuments Men

(Source)

The Monuments Men is a fun, mostly light-hearted film with an amazing cast and a decent story. The film follows a special team of soldiers during World War II who are assigned to keep the world's greatest monuments (mostly art, really) safe from Nazi occupation.

If you look at The Monuments Men as a historical Ocean's Eleven, it doesn't work. This film is completely different, but in a good way. It starts out right in the middle of the action, with the special team being put together and going through basic training within the first ten minutes. The entire movie moves at a fast pace, grabbing your attention with every scene. It's a perfect blend of comedy, action, and tragedy to keep everyone interested. 

A couple things that I really loved about this film (there are a lot more than just this, though): 1. Catholics are treated with respect. A lot of art that the Monuments Men have to save are in churches. Priests and religious are found throughout the film, and they are neither lifted up nor put down, they're simply part of the story. That's exactly how it should be, in my humble opinion. And 2. The value of family and fidelity is a strong theme. There's a really touching scene where Lieutenant Campbell's family sends him a recording of them singing a Christmas song, and he immediately stops what he's doing to listen, while the other men help him play it. The soldiers' families play a big part in their lives, and I appreciated that they let it shine through so many scenes.

The cast is the best part of this movie. There's so many big names here, and they each pull off their roles perfectly. I especially loved Jean Dujardin as cocky yet incompetent Jean Claude, and Bill Murray as the cynical Lieutenant Campbell. The entire ensemble is great together and you can tell they're all friends. If you're looking for a fun, snarky, fast-paced film with a great cast of characters, look no further! The Monuments Men delivers.