A Bridge Much Too Far & Too Long

Rating: 6/10 (23 February 2009)

Richard Attenborough again directs an all-star cast about operation Market Garden. The Allies attempt to parachute behind enemy lines, secure bridges, and meet up with ground support to sneak into the Ruhr Valley in Germany during the Fall of 1944. The film is based on Cornelius Ryan's book of the same name. The details of the film are mostly authentic, right down to the equipment and artillery used in battle scenes. The film does a good job of setting up the unlikely premise of the Allies parachuting thousands of men behind enemy lines in order to target the industrial area in Germany. However, there are far too many leaders, characters, and scenarios to follow to build an impact and make sense of the film.
There is no protagonist in the film; therefore it's hard to identify with any one situation or event. Instead, the actors are featured in what turns out to be a string of cameo scenarios, which are connected by mostly off-screen plot-lines. Individual scenes stand out like James Caan eluding Germans and forcing Arthur Hill to operate at gunpoint, Sean Connery getting holed up in an attic to avoid capture, and the tedious back and forth battle between British and German forces for a bridge. Attenborough seems more concerned with getting specific details about the operation correct than in making a film about a failed operation. However, unless one is a student of this particular operation, it is difficult to understand the interconnectedness of each battle and its purpose and or effect on the operation. The battle scenes are realistic, and the soundtrack is first rate, but ultimately, as with many all-star cast war movies, the film is weighed down by its huge budget, lack of a protagonist, and lack of character and plot development. **1/2 of 4 stars.