Parents' Guide to

The Art of More

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Smuggling drama offers thrills, moral ambiguity, violence.

TV Online Drama 2015
The Art of More Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • The Art of More TV: Scene #1
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What's the Story?

THE ART OF MORE is a dramatic thriller about the high-stakes world of collecting. It stars Christian Cooke as "Tommy" Graham Connor, a former soldier who will smuggle, steal, and even forge some of the world's most valuable treasures to sell to wealthy hobbyists and investors who are willing to look the other way. As a staff member of New York's Parkes-Mason auction house, which is owned by the no-nonsense Eugene Clark (Edward Leigh Mason), he does his best get a hold of, and hold on to, lucrative accounts belonging to high-end collectors like the obnoxious Samuel Brukner (Dennis Quaid). Spurring him along is his wealthy mentor and antiquities collector, Arthur Davenport (Cary Elwes). The competition among auction houses is fierce, and he must outsmart long-time pros like the cutthroat Roxanna Whitman (Kate Bosworth) and negotiate with Belinda Romero (Christina Rosato), Brukner's assistant. It doesn't help that fellow Parkes-Mason staffers like Todd Fletcher (Joe Cobden) are jealous of his success. Things are going well, but thanks to a procurement of rare items from the Middle East, he soon finds himself in over his head.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

The entertaining series offers a dramatic, behind-the-scenes look at the collecting world, in which the value of procured items increases with the risk taken to get them. While part of the fun is watching how these folks wheel, deal, and auction to make a profit, the eventual consequences of getting those items make for some intriguing and unexpected events. The array of collectibles that motivate these events are also interesting.

A few of the characters, including Tommy, are likable. But ultimately, they're as much the "bad guys" as the smugglers they secretly work with and the collectors they exploit -- a detail that the overall story doesn't let viewers forget. Their lack of integrity and illegal behavior is the driving force behind the show, and one that creates a lot of guilty pleasure for those who tune in.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about TV shows and movies that feature likable "bad guys." Why do viewers like morally ambiguous characters, even though they do bad things? Is it the fact that they are doing these things that make them popular? Or is it because the character is a complicated one? If a character is likable, is it easy to forget that what they do isn't very nice?

  • People often invest in expensive collections for financial investments and as expensive hobbies. Is there anything that, given the opportunity, you would be willing to spend a lot of money on to add to a collection? If you collect things that aren't expensive, does it make you any less of a collector?

TV Details

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