IS a piece of art worth a man’s life? George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov relentlessly posit that question in their latest passion project, an adaptation of Robert M.

Edsel and Bret Witter’s book The Monuments Men.

It’s a version of the story of the platoon of men who, during the Second World War, were tasked with protecting the valuable historical works desired by Hitler for his planned Fuhrer Museum and then ordered for destruction.

As the action begins, Clooney’s Frank Stokes flags up the thefts with the US President before assembling an expert squad (John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban and Jean Dujardin) and heading into the field to work alongside the armed forces to retrieve, or protect, key pieces.

They split up in order to pursue leads, bringing Damon’s James Granger into contact with Cate Blanchett’s Frenchwoman Claire Simone, someone who has key information about key thefts from Parisian collectors and galleries.

While this is undoubtedly a story which deserves to be told, Clooney’s version fails to wholly convince, despite him giving it his best Clark Gable, ’tache and all, performance-wise. Initial trailers for the film borrowed David Holmes’ outstanding Ocean’s Eleven score, and intimated that it would ape the caper-y style of the Ocean’s trilogy, but it fails to secure that level of easy charm.

Things improve towards the conclusion when the team are racing the Russians (who planned to keep anything they found as reparation rather than return it) to find two of the most valuable works, Michelangelo’s Madonna with child from Bruges and the early 15 th Century Ghent Altarpiece.

Thankfully, the inescapable realities of the core tale are never less than gripping. And watching the film is a timely reminder of art’s power to communicate who we are and, more importantly, who we were.

3/5 stars

Joanne Mace