Trailer for The Monuments Men starring George Clooney and Matt Damon is like a WWII Ocean’s 11

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The first trailer for George Clooney‘s THE MONUMENTS MEN has dropped and it’s got a very “OCEANS 11” feel to it, only this time the crew is a bunch of art curators/historians instead of con men and the setting is WWII instead of Vegas. That isn’t to say that it’s a bad thing. In fact, THE MONUMENTS MEN looks like a hell of a lot of fun, especially with such a terrific cast, which includes Clooney (who is also directing), Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, and Bob Balaban. Not a bad way to kick off your movie. The pic has all the flavor of a WWII thriller, but with the charm and character that usually inhabits a Clooney film.

Check it out:

Here’s the synopsis:

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is a dramatic thriller focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements. From director George Clooney, the film stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett. The screenplay is by George Clooney & Grant Heslov, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter. Produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney.

This looks really solid to me. “Based on a true story” doesn’t always automatically mean you’ve got a winner, but in this instance I think it really works conceptually. It has all the trimmings of a historical thriller with the familiar tropes of a “misfit” band of soldiers on a mission. It’s SAVING PRIVATE RYAN lite, as this time out they’re saving culture instead of a single man.

THE MONUMENTS MEN kicks off their mission on December 18, 2013.