Admirable and yet flawed

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2003)

This is a movie that you have to admire, but at the same time it has one big flaw, mainly that too much time is spent in the company of the rather dull commando force giving Alec Guinness's brilliant performance short shrift. It's as if director David Lean needed to have William Holden in the movie for a long space of time if only to ensure box office success. Still, when it's on the right tracks, this really tugs at the heart. When Guinness realises his labour of love, the bridge, is about to be destroyed, only the coldest of hearts would feel nothing.