THE MONUMENTS MEN ("NOT TO BE REMEMBERED?")

February 21, 2014.

Cast: Matt Damon, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman.

Director: George Clooney.

The Monuments Men was touted to be this year’s ARGO and the trailers promised us just that with a stellar cast and able handed Clooney donning the Director’s hat.

Frank Stokes (Clooney) is permitted by the US President during the 2^nd World War to form a team of his choice to recover the arts stolen by Hitler from all over the world, mainly Europe, for his Fuhrer Museum. He assembles a team comprising of several people including James Granger (Damon), Richard Campbell (Murray) and Walter Garfield (Goodman).

Though the premise sounds pretty adventurous and interesting enough the screenplay is too too lacklustre and when combined with the silly BGM that comes every now and then the scenes that are already bland are made much more stupid and funny in a bad way.

You have a laugh or two once in a while in the film but those are the only scenes that are entertaining in the film. Inspite of being of such historic importance and inspite of the protagonists being in the middle of the World War the film is pretty relaxed in terms of writing, acting and direction!! There is not a single scene in the film that could be called tense.

What’s even worse is that even the dialogues that are supposed to evoke some sort of feelings, because they are so direct to the extent that the characters tell that you are supposed to be sad, fall flat on their face mainly owing to the lack of energy altogether!! It is really really sad to see such a terrible film from the man who has given us the likes of Good Night and Good Luck, The Ides of March etc.

The first half of the film is dead slow and comparatively, the second offers something better as we atleast get to see the events that are relatively unknown to the majority, which in no sense of the word means the film is watchable unless you have a lot of free time to spare.

The film ends with the President of the United States asking Stokes if all the efforts, money and loss of people was really worth it, whether all this will be remembered in History. Though Stokes replies in the affirmative and historically it is impossible to overlook such a noble mission, now that most people in the world are aware of it, the film sadly has been taken in such a shabby manner posing a big question to the audience whether it is something worth remembering?....I guess not!

I am giving a 2.25 for The Monuments Men. It is not a Clooney film, it’s way too lousy!!

IMDB Rating

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.

HIGHWAY ("NOT THE BEST OF WAYS")

February 21, 2014.

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt.

Director: Imtiaz Ali.

Veera (Alia Bhatt), a business tycoon’s daughter is kidnapped by Mahabir’s (Randeep Hooda) gang by mistake. What follows is a case of the Stockholm syndrome where Veera starts falling for her captor Mahabir.

As always Imtiaz Ali comes up with something different (though the central premise is love just like all his previous films), a road movie that takes you to several Indian states with stunning landscapes captured beautifully by Anil Mehta. Though it’s an AR Rahman musical you only get to hear “Patakha Guddi” mainly (Maahi ve comes during the end titles) and a few BGM scores placed at long intervals in an otherwise silent movie. Now that might be an important point to take note of for the ARR fans.

Highway is a film loaded with positives and negatives to the extent that makes most of the audience indifferent by the time the film ends; the positives mainly being the terrific performances by Hooda and Alia (except for a few scenes in the beginning that are strikingly similar to Kareena’s role in Jab we met which really puts you off). Hooda who is silent most of the time offers an intense screen presence and is equally good when he breaks down at a later point in the film.

The screenplay shows hints of the normal Imtiaz Ali with humor at regular intervals, though less in quantity compared to his previous films, but other than those occasional scenes what you get is total silence most of the time which becomes a bit too much as the film progresses. Imtiaz Ali seems to have deliberately made that decision but it backfires big time mostly.

The history of the lead pairs ,especially Mahabir, seems a bit too stretched, unnecessary and boring. The argument that it is necessary for the lead pair to develop an intense bonding cannot be made considering the messy and stretched execution especially when the rest of the film contains lengthy silent sequences.

Still what keeps the film going are the strong performances as mentioned earlier and some really good scenes that come every now and then. One really big miscalculation on the part of Imtiaz Ali is the blatant preaching session in the climax which really takes away the mood and the film ends up much lesser than what it could have been otherwise.

I am giving a generous 3 for Highway considering the novelty and boldness. But I would not recommend that you watch it!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.