MovieChat Forums > The Monuments Men (2014) Discussion > Puzzlingly Bad

Puzzlingly Bad

posted 10 years ago by marfrie56
42 replies | jump to latest

*minor spoilers - but nothing the coming attractions haven't already shown us

The movie had nearly everything a movie needs: a great cast, great locations, the great setting of WWII Europe, important and understandable goals, fantastically beautiful works of art, likable good guys and nasty bad guys, AND to top it all off, "based on" real events. But with all this going for it, the movie came off as lackluster and flat.
How could a movie, with all these strengths, fail completely to engage the audience (me, at least)? HOW? There was little tension, no suspense, no feeling of victory when the good guys succeeded, nothing to cheer about, nothing to worry about. The script was ho-hum, and a little too droll.
Don't get me wrong - this is not a terrible movie at all - it's just that it had everything it could possibly need to be a fine one, but just squandered its wealth with a poor script, bad timing, and humdrum direction.
If it were a James Bond movie or a Spiderman flick, where some tongue-in-cheek wisecracks are not only expected but obligatory, that would be different. But here, the attempts at humor were poorly timed and fell flat. A real man standing on an unexploded mine does not quip - only happens in a movie (and not a serious one, at that). If the movie's subject matter were lighthearted, if we were not supposed to care about the characters or the outcome of their mission, then by all means crack some jokes - just make them funny. But if you first encumber me with the weight of a vitally important quest, if you first preach to me that humanity would be lost should this quest be unsuccessful, then please don't joke and jive about it. A comic moment or two would be fine - if it relieved tension and moved the plot along. But there was no tension, and the plot simply stood still. Don't joke about it - instead, build some drama, and make me give a hoot about the outcome. Nazis are bad and art is good - most of us will agree to that - but it's lazy and unimaginative for a filmmaker to rely on these built-in values. You, as a filmmaker, need to introduce some drama, and make me feel something about the specific situations if you want me to care about your characters and get me involved in the outcome of their mission.

[–] rgl-6 10 years ago

Saving Private Ryan was the Mother of All WWII movies. Any attempt at that genre since has been little more than Movie of the Week quality. They churned out great WWII movies from the 1960s to early 70s.
Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection. Send my credentials to the house of detention.

[–] marfrie56 10 years ago

Saving Private Ryan is a great movie - but The Longest Day can't be ignored, as the granddaddyfor all subsequent D-Day movies.
I haven't seen it since it came out in the 60s but I sure remember it as monumental. Now I have the yen to see it again.
Just imagine - the REAL LIFE invasion of Normandy. Unbelievably risky and gutsy. Incredible.

[–] npanou 10 years ago

"Unbelievably risky and gutsy"
Not really, intelligence and ruses ensured the panzer counterattack would be too slow. Once the beachead and air superiority was secured, Normandy was a massacre- even with Monty's overt caution around Caen. Lot's of films like depict it as some epic, desperate struggle- but beyond a few isolated moment's where the Nazis had some localised advantage- e.g. The Bulge, Market Garden, in terms of the campaign as a whole, it wasn't even a fair fight. Monty's wars of attrition were the absolute opposite of risky or gutsy- he never took a fight he couldn't win. If you want risk and guts- read about Rommels lightning wars.
"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door."

[–] jdanek007 10 years ago

You're a troll whose talk is cheap.

No doubt you would've refused to even get off the landing craft, and have been shot as a coward 100m from the beach.

Pussy.

[–] npanou 10 years ago

Come on pal, you are making me cry.

Biggest badass that ever lived, i will name my first-born son jadank, with your blessing of course!
For the record, saying the campaign wasn't risky at a strategic level doesn't speak anything for the men who died and fought- but if you can't wrap your head around that as two different concepts, don't worry, you are still a total baddass.

"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door."

[–] jdanek007 9 years ago

the OP talks about "real life" vis a vis the Invasion - not the airy, pseudo-intellectualized musings of fags like Monty and Bedell Smith. If you want to belittle the high falutin' generals of SHAEF and 21st Army Group, have at it.

But to suggest, as you did, that the men who fought and died on the beaches with little concept of the grand Allied strategy they were sacrificed for is simply disrespectful.

[–] mangemongen 10 years ago

Around 3000 of the 150,000 Allied men that took part in the invasion died on D-Day. That's 2%. Sounds like you thought it was more like 50%.

[–] jdanek007 9 years ago

Around 3000 of the 150,000 Allied men that took part in the invasion died on D-Day.

Incorrect. There were over 4,400 confirmed Allied dead, including my grandfather's baker's apprentice, and another 6,000 wounded just on D-Day.

[–] nexus_vi_6 10 years ago

As far as WWII movies go I'd take Downfall over SPR, and the Pacific mini series over both of them

[–] stephenmonachello 10 years ago

It depends on what WWII subject you base it on. The Longest Day, Enemy at the Gates, and Valkyrie are all really good WWII films just to name a few.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2604794/

[–] rathnakumar 10 years ago

I couldn't have put it better, myself! PERFECT! This is exactly what I felt! The cast was the reason I went... It was really bad! You end up liking no one! A very shallow film, no character development! Poorly structured... I thought, with all these great actors, this would be great, but no... Just plain disappointing. By the end of an hour I was like, "WHO THE HECK ARE THESE MEN, WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT ANY OF THEM?!" Nothing in the film that makes them likeable... Stale humour... JUST PLAIN BAD!!! Ugh!

[–] davcamp2 10 years ago

I am SO GLAD I am not alone in this. I almost walked out. No character development killed this for me. I didn't even know Matt Damon's character was married until the scene with Cate Blanchett like 2 hours into the movie.

[–] chilledmail 10 years ago

I agree with the OP, but davcamp2? It's fair enough that you may not have put two and two together to draw conclusions from this conversation at around the 28 minute mark:

Emile: You have children?
James: ah 2, yeah uh, a 12 year old and a 9 year old.
Emile: Boy and girl?
James: 2 girls

But that you also missed this conversation around the 12 minute mark, indicates that perhaps you're not really quite up to the material:

Donald: Well James, how's that lovely wife of yours?
James: Fine, she told me to send you a kiss which I'm not prepared to deliver

.

What can I say, stay on target, stay on target.

[–] ryker84 10 years ago

Well said, couldn't agree more.

[–] ewd76-944-910685 10 years ago

I didn't watch it. The trailer made it look like the sort of thing we've seen in many movies, only not done as well. Part of it was seeing sitcom and comedy stars playing the characters. If they were actors I had never seen before, I probably wouldn't have any negative preconceptions. From what I've read, I wasn't far off.

[–] claudja777 10 years ago

most movies are like this by now.come to think of "captain phillips" (all we know about him it's that his son doesn't want t study or something.we don't even know what how long he's been doing it,or why do this people seem to dislike him) or "zero dark thirty"(we know absolutely nothing about the girl)

[–] smoko 10 years ago

@marfrie56 I remember people half-joking that this would be like Oceans 11 meets Saving Private Ryan. From your post it sounds like that's exactly what they tried to do, and the result is a movie that's a bit of a mess.

[–] PotassiumMan 10 years ago

Lousy film. Poorly written and poorly executed. An unfortunate waste of an imposing acting roster.

[–] britwrit 10 years ago

The guys at the Silver Screen Snobs podcast put it best. The movie, trying to be a cross between A Serious Film and A Fun Buddy Adventure, fails at both.

But if you get the chance, pick up the book. It's a fascinating but quick read.