The Minutes from the George Clooney Clubhouse meeting of ‘The Monuments Men’

If everyone can please take their seats, this meeting of The George Clooney Club is coming to order. Let the parade of “The Monuments Men” begin. Please note the attendance of the following members in order of appearance, John Goodman, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray and Bob Balaban.

So began the coolest clubhouse meeting ever. Well, not quite. But it might as well have happened in such a manner.

The charismatic Clooney literally held court during a press conference earlier this month to promote his latest directorial effort, “The Monuments Men.” And no, the film isn’t “Ocean’s 1944,” although it is easy to glean that idea off the marketing materials. Clooney and co-writer Heslov’s telling of the “greatest treasure hunt in history” is not the stuff of fiction. It is an action drama with purpose, to illuminate real truths and inspire audience with the tale of this group of middle-aged, out of shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators and historians. This unlikely collection of soldiers literally went out to find, protect and preserve many of humanity’s most enduring cultural achievements, all stolen by the Nazis, from the ravages of World War II.

Given Clooney’s penchant for working with material that resonates on a socio-cultural and political level (“Good Night and Good Luck,” “The Ides of March,” “Argo”), his attraction to the lives of these “monuments” men and women is a hard sell in today’s studio economy. But what makes his bold history lesson engaging is exactly what paraded into the Grand Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel: classic Hollywood charm and personality.

Exhibiting his best leather jacket cool in the center of the panel, Clooney never looked so swoon-worthy. And, as surrounded by his equally dashing and stylish filmmaking partners (both behind and in front of the camera), it is easy to see why he has courted the loyalty of such award-winning talents.

Journalists asked the cast to describe their experience working with Clooney at one point. Only Damon benefited from the star “making it rain” $20 bills under the table as he gushed answering the query, which prompted Goodman to term the moment as being in an “emotional strip club.” The analogy was apropos since Clooney is running the coolest private club in town, where the jokes, jabs and camaraderie are served up with panache. It’s enough to make a room full of jaded and overworked journos turn soft with hyperbole. (In this case, you can read which one of the said press corps. members lost that battle.)

Clooney’s work may not be to everyone’s taste, particularly in this endless Twitter streamed era of Red and Blue State vitriol. But, his filmmaking is art with an honest purpose, daring to ask moral questions. In this case, whether or not we are willing to die for art. Still, even the most fervent critic of the so-called liberal media elite can’t deny they would want to trade places with these cool kids. Here’s a slice of what it is like to be a temporary club member as Clooney and Company revealed what it was like to band together for “The Monuments Men” cause:

CLOONEY: It’s hard to make films like this. It took us a long time to get “Argo” made. We’re not all that familiar with this actual story, which is rare for a World War II film. Usually you think you know all the stories. Some of the wildest parts are true. Grant and I tend to make films that are somewhat cynical at times. We sat down specifically saying, “Let’s not do that for once. Let’s do one that doesn’t have any of that in it, that has a real positive outlook at things.” That’s what we sought to do with this. I like all those John Sturges films. We thought of it as sort of a mix between “Kelly’s Heroes” (1970) and “The Train” (1964). We wanted to talk about a very serious subject that’s ongoing and we wanted to make it entertaining. That was the goal. We’ll find out.

BLANCHETT: George, as well know, is such an incredible raconteur and I think that carries across into the way he makes films. The way George would come to each of us and pitch the story of “Monuments Men” was not dissimilar to his character in the film, going around to gather the people.

CLOONEY: Casting was fun. We couldn’t get Brad [Pitt], so we got Matt. [Laughter]

DAMON: He told me I’d get to work with Cate Blanchett.

CLOONEY: The pitch to her was that she wouldn’t have to work with Matt. I lied. [Laughter]

BLANCHETT: Can you imagine my disappointment? I thought I was going to be working with Bill Murray. [Laughter] I think we’ve aged relatively well. The last time we were together was in [“The Talented Mr.] Ripley” in Italy, which was a slightly different endeavor, then in-between times he made “Behind the Candelabra.” Fortunately I hadn’t seen that before we filmed this. [Laughter]

CLOONEY: Oh, we did. [Laughter]

DAMON: I read somewhere that he took in my wardrobe by an eighth of an inch every other day. He had the wardrobe department do that because he knew I was trying to lose weight. This was a job where I’d go back to New York where I was living with my family and then I’d come back [to the film’s European locations] for two weeks. Every time I came back, the pants were tighter. I was like, “This is weird. I’ve been going to the gym.” It’s nice having friends like that.

GOODMAN: It was probably my happiest filmmaking experience this last year doing this film. It was wonderful.

HESLOV: Was it better than “Argo?”

[PAUSE]

GOODMAN: Almost. [Laughter]

BALABAN: One of the things that attracted me to this…I’d always known about the stealing of the art, but never really the extent of it. The question that the movie posed specifically, and I thought it was great that George, your character actually says this a couple of times in the movie, “Why is it so important?” That you should kill so many people, but also try to eradicate their culture is so significant. It’s something very hard to get across in another piece of art, in a movie. I thought the script and then the movie did it beautifully. The questions that we all are struggling with all the time, “Is it just pretty? What does art do for us? How does it represent us?” It’s our whole inner life. It’s hard to depict and I thought the movie did it well.

MURRAY: Everyone had great scenes to do. We got to see a wonderful story unfold. We got to go to great places. We got to eat well. We laughed a lot. I think we’d all do it again tomorrow if we had to start tomorrow.

DAMON: And if enough people see the movie, we will. Please. Please. Tell everybody you know to go see this movie!

CLOONEY: Maybe we’ll do a prequel with younger actors.

DAMON: Wait, what? [Laughter]

“The Monuments Men” opens citywide on February 7.

“Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action-thriller focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements.”