Long, Boring, and Generally Badly-Handled

Rating: 5/10 (25 March 2005)

This is a very waterlogged war film, notable today only for its mammoth star line up and for being a rare war film in that it depicts a German victory. The director has attempted to make the film as comprehensive a telling of Operation Market Garden as possible, but has instead (or because of this) left us with an over-crowded and at times heavy-handed mess.
The film starts out well, conveying well the war-office politics which, borne out of an arrogant zeal to end the war swiftly, ended up dooming the entire operation. Pointing out sound reasons to delay the launching of the air drop, which would save thousands of lives, was regarded as 'rocking the boat.' Notable was the character of Fuller, who saw the presence of German tanks as a good reason to call off the mission. When he pushed for this, he was forced to take 'some leave' for exhaustion. The mission went ahead - straight into a few German Panzer divisions. Following Fuller's advice (based on sound intelligence), would have saved a few thousand men, and probably the mission; but Allied command wanted the boys home for Christmas, and Fuller was rocking the boat - touché.
Indeed there are also some fine battle sequences incorporating great special effects. But these are few and far between in this three hour movie. These good points, including the wonderful cast and a brilliant score, are just not enough to make this film worthwhile as anything but a curio. The rest is all downhill.....
The screenplay is simply awful - there is just too much going on in the events which are the subject of the film, and this muddles the movie. Even if you are following the film closely, at times you are left wondering if you've in fact missed something when a quick rewind to recap shows that you haven't. A lot of self indulgent, meandering direction from Attenborough doesn't help the matter either. He also seems to enjoy over-exposing the film in many scenes, so that sunlight glows in a blurry manner, creating a sepia kind of image. This looks terrible, and is reminiscent of some dreadful films by Tony Richardson.
The star line up, though magnificent is ultimately unnecessary. It only ends up distracting the audience from the film's plot. Sundry big names appear in totally unnecessary cameos, most of which simply detract from the main plot; this, I feel, adding to the confusion of an already muddled screenplay. Laurence Olivier and James Caan appear in two completely pointless almost-cameo roles. Both the roles are completely beneath these actors, and the pretentiousness of the director to include these scenes (especially Caan's) is clearly evident in their suplerfity. The dialogue between James Caan's character and the field doctor was simply inane, and should have just been cut.
The scene towards the end, in which the leading officers of the operation stand atop a bell tower and contemplate why the mission failed, is simply a straight rip-off from the ending of The Charge of the Light Brigade in that each tries to blame some other aspect of the planning which led to their own section failing. The actual final ending of the film was bland, and very heavy-handed. Totally unsatisfying - especially after three hours.
And all through the film the national-specific clichés of the characters was abysmal. The two American leads (Ryan O'Neal and Elliot Gould) were just cardboard-cut-out US stooges - cigar chomping, loudmouths always rattling on about 'American ingenuity' and the need 'to try', and wishing to emulate George Washington in battle. The British were no better - if not worse. There was just so much 'Chin up laddy', and 'better luck next time old boy - eh' going on that the film began to play like a parody of a war film; so much so, that by the end of the film you are relieved that the Nazis have won the day - if, of course, you are still awake to care by this stage.
This film requires patience, as most films with such run time do; but most other long films have the virtue of being able to hold your attention by providing a solid evening's entertainment. A Bridge Too Far doesn't have this virtue, because it has attempted to crowd too much into its clumsily handled screenplay. It is a worthwhile film for war buffs, as there are a few rewarding battle scenes; but one has to wade through veritable spools of self-important and confusing - sometimes down-right boring - celluloid to get to them. To the casual viewer this is not an enjoyable prospect, and not even the star power of the film can make such a task worthwhile.