The Monuments Men: Damon and Clooney Work Well Together, Or Do

‘The Monuments Men’ is the sixth time Matt Damon and George Clooney have worked together, but it’s the first time the perennial collaborators have taken a directorial role together. And for Damon, working with an old friend made life a whole lot easier.

Clooney is really at the center of the success or failure of this film

“Anytime you work with your friends it’s really helpful because you can leave out all of that diplomacy,” he explained. “People tend to spend a lot of energy trying not to hurt each other’s feelings if they don’t know each other but if you’re friends, you know, George can come up to me after a scene and say, ‘Well that was horrible, do it better this time,’ and I won’t get offended,” he added at the London premiere for the movie, according to The Telegraph. 

This didn’t mean Clooney was always professional though. Damon recalls one of his trademark pranks: “Well I didn’t know George was taking in my pants every week by like a quarter or an eighth of an inch to try to make me think I was putting on weight but apparently he was. I found that out at the press junket,” smiled Damon.

Clooney invited many friends to come back and work on his World War II film, which he wrote, directed and stars in. John Goodman – who beat the hell out of him in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” before being bested by the wily Everett – also stars. “He’s very well prepared, he does his homework, he’s very organized, he knows his equipment, he knows exactly what he wants and he can also change at a moments notice. He’s just very well prepared,” said the star.

But while his close friends and peers are nothing but doting about Clooney, it would appear his charm and talent didn’t manifest in Monuments Men, which has been subject to some lukewarm if not downright negative reviews from the press. Still, that probably won’t stop the comedy drama dominating this Valentines weekend through pure star power.