Monthly Archives: March 2014

Another disappointing film. The Monuments Men was neither fish nor fowl. It was part action war movie and part art heist caper but failed in both. The action consisted of a lot of short scenes which felt disconnected and for the most part lacked tension or drama. The art-history part of the movie had a preachy feel to it, the audience repeatedly being told of the importance of art. I think it would have been better to have produced a documentary instead. 2 stars (only just).

I haven’t read the book but I found the movie version of The Book Thief disappointing. The film observes the rise of the Nazis from the point of view of a young adopted girl, Liesl. The setting is a chocolate-box small town in Germany and our heroine, illiterate at first, has a fetish for stealing books. There are some dramatic moments in the film, but I did find these rather weak. The characterization was weak as well exacerbated by the lead actors speaking English but with ham German accents. An original touch was casting the narrator as Death himself, although I suspect even this literary device works better in the book. 2 stars.