The first trailer for George Clooney’s directorial effort The Monuments Men dropped today (via Apple), and it establishes the WWII-era dramedy as a blend of everything from Ocean’s 11 and The Good German to Saving Private Ryan and The Dirty Dozen. Basically, it looks fantastic. Clooney makes exactly the type of movie I want to see in theaters, and Monuments Men looks like another potential home run from the director of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night. And Good Luck and The Ides of March.
The movie casts Clooney and his Ocean’s colleague Matt Damon as veteran soldiers commissioned during the final days of the war to rescue valuable works of art from behind enemy lines in Germany. But this isn’t Enemy at the Gates, and the jokes sprinkled throughout will tell you. As the director says to USA Today, “[Producer] Grant [Heslov] and I were looking to do a film that was less cynical than a lot of the films we do." Which hopefully means we can count on Monuments Men being a fun ride, as opposed to the message movies Clooney has been attracted to over the course of his directorial career. (Leatherheads being the notable exception that proves the rule.)
In addition to the new trailer, USA Today has a half-dozen new images from Clooney’s movie that supplement the latest footage. I still can’t get over his cast, populated with brilliant character actors that should ensure another gem from this immensely talented filmmaker. In addition to Clooney and Damon, we get Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and John Goodman. Unbelievable. I also can’t believe that one trailer can sway me from thinking that Monuments Men, and not Gravity, is now my most anticipated Clooney movie coming out in the closing months of this year. But that trailer was tailor made for me. Did you like it, as well?
The Monuments Men opens in theaters on Dec. 18. Here are the latest pics.
