The Monuments Men (PG-13)

There was once a charming, make-believe world that appeared on screens big and small. Married couples retired to separate beds. Petty troublemakers like Eddie Haskell represented the worst of juvenile delinquency. Family members donned suits or dresses to relax at home.

Oh, sure—gritty film noir murder flicks coexisted with this Rockwellesque world. Even in the toughest of these, however, few characters uttered more shocking than the “d” word.

This held true even in war movies: bloodless death, aching sentimentality and the occasional “aw, shucks.”

Of course, that was before “Saving Private Ryan,” “Band of Brothers” or even the Vietnam film “Hamburger Hill” turned our shrinking attention spans to the repeated roller coaster ride of tragedy and gory heroism that is a very real aspect of warfare.

“The Monuments Men” is George Clooney’s unabashed attempt to recapture that almost cornball simplicity. The film tells the story of a real group charged with tracking down artwork confiscated by the Nazis during World War Two from museum and private homes then hidden all across Europe. Herman Goring alone picked more than 700 pieces from collections in occupied lands. Adolf Hitler considered art a way to define culture.

Yes, the script takes liberties. The cast is generally older than the original crew, for example. Names have been changed and Cate Blanchett asked to fake a French accent, Clouseau-style.

During World War Two, films projected the notion that something bigger, more important than one man’s life was afoot. “The Monuments Men” sells the idea that the loss of a Rembrandt or Matisse can be more devastating in the overall scheme than an individual life. So although the film imposes some explosions and other come-ons for modern audiences, this is in many ways evenly paced and charming, built upon character and theme.

OK—so it drags at times. There is also wit and mystery.

It’s a bold move by Clooney, who acts as well as directs. He is savvy enough to know that hits are built upon bloody combat sequences or wild, improbable tales—“Inglorious Basterds” comes to mind. Instead, the throwback film includes likeable scenes. John Goodman discovers that those are not blanks fired in his general direction during training, much to his chagrin. Bill Murray ponders what would happen to all the great works of Europe if things went Germany’s way, repeating the horrible thought of a “Fuhrer Museum.

“The Monuments Men” is a lark, and adventure and a nod at history, all in one—with a couple of gratuitous blasts thrown in. Unfit for combat but trained in the nuances of oils and sculpture, the half dozen or so under Clooney’s command land in the wake of the Normandy invasion and begin sniffing out the missing works—before the retreating enemy destroyed invaluable masterpieces by the score. Hitler supposedly even ordered that Paris be torched before it fell to the Allies.

Art and architecture disappeared as a result of World War Two. Some of it was blasted into dust by bomb or fighting on the ground. Others vanished at the hands of individuals. Many are still tucked away in closets or other hideaways, as the world recently discovered.

But the real Monuments Men tracked down a trove of the greatest art created by the western world, stashed in tunnels, jail houses and other locations.

The story has none of the hair-raising “Saving Private Ryan” action. But it is a story--and one worth a little bit of time.

Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin