Films > DVD Reviews

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

06/01/12

It’s cold, it’s monochrome and no-one smiles. Three reasons why this spy thriller based on the John Le Carre novel of the same name is fitting for a January release. Another reason to see this release as fortuitous timing is that whilst this film is good – very good – it is also long, complex and densely full of plot twists and turns. This might, at any other time, put some people off watching this movie, but in the post-Christmas lull, when money is suddenly an issue again for eleven months, this is a perfect way to spend an afternoon on the sofa - chilling out with a turkey sandwich and a story of espionage and betrayal.

We follow Gary Oldman’s Smiley, an ex-British Intelligence agent who is asked to re-join and investigate suspicions that there is a mole in the agency (a spy, they don’t have a garden-pest problem). This leads Smiley through a clever and complex whodunit that gives just enough clues for you to follow along with your own theories without giving the game away before the end.

The casting is fantastic, which is good because I do hate it when you watch a thriller, and it���s obvious who the bad guy is because they’re an A list actor, lurking around in the background playing a role beneath their stature just waiting for the moment when they reveal themselves to be the antagonist (see Angels and Demons – actually DON’T see Angels and Demons, if you catch my obviously villainous drift). It is much better to have a cast of actors all of the same level, even if this means you cast aside any major A-listers, so that it literally could be anyone (see the Usual Suspects, and if you have never seen it, watch that THEN this).

This has a cast filled with the best of established and emerging talent, with Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, John Hurt and Stephen Graham to name a few. It feels like a best-of-acting 2011 end of year bonanza - which is exactly what it is. Great.