Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Screenplay by: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
Based on the novel by John le Carré
I like spy movies. Spy movies are good. But Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy takes spy movies to a whole new level.
It's the height of the Cold War, and there's a rumor going around the Circus, Britain's secret intelligence agency (similar to the CIA) that there's a mole, working for the Russians, who's among the top operatives at the Circus. So now, it's up to George Smiley (Gary Oldman), one of the Circus's finest and most experienced agents to find out who the double agent is and take down one of his own, after one of his fellow agents fails to find out who it is during a failed mission to Hungary to find out who it is.
The story is extremely convoluted and filled with hundreds of details that don't really seem all that important, but if you blink, you'll probably miss something. There's lots of characters who have major roles for the parts they're in, but are hardly anywhere to be seen for most of the movie.
Gary Oldman is absolutely incredible in his role as George Smiley. He makes a rather flawed character seem pretty normal and emotionless. I think this is his best role and he delivers the finest performance by any actor in any movie since Christophe Waltz in his role in Inglourious Basterds. All I can say is that if you're a fan of Gary Oldman's work, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not to be missed. The choice is clear for Best Actor across the various awards ceremonies this year. He is absolutely the highlight of the film in my mind.
While the story may be difficult to follow, it is truly a mind bending story with twists and turns at every corner. To most people, it may be difficult to pick out suspects in order to solve the mystery of who the mole is, simply because they're all posing as "the good guys". The movie has a run time of approximately two and a half hours, but I figured out who the mole is (I'm not kidding) ten minutes into the film (like I said, I'm not even kidding about this). That diminished my enjoyment of the film, but not too much. How did I do it? See the movie first, then I'll tell you. Tip: notice how each character is portrayed and what each character does in each scene and how they react to the ongoing conversation.
My biggest problem with the film is how small of a part Colin Firth has. We don't see enough of him and don't see a whole lot of his acting talent. He is truly one of the best actors in the business today and we don't get a very good taste of his acting ability in this film. This is mostly going to be a problem for viewers who have heard a lot about how amazing an actor Colin Firth is and want to see this film to see his talent. Those of you whom happen to be in this situation, I strongly recommend this film, but then you should see The King's Speech (2010), for which he won Best Actor.
Overall, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy can easily be considered one of the best films of the year. While it is a long and very slow paced movie, it's a story that'll keep you interested until the very end. My verdict, GO TO THE THEATER AND SEE IT!!!!
This movie is spying on theaters with an A-.
Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Screenplay by: Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan
Based on the novel by John le Carré
I like spy movies. Spy movies are good. But Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy takes spy movies to a whole new level.
It's the height of the Cold War, and there's a rumor going around the Circus, Britain's secret intelligence agency (similar to the CIA) that there's a mole, working for the Russians, who's among the top operatives at the Circus. So now, it's up to George Smiley (Gary Oldman), one of the Circus's finest and most experienced agents to find out who the double agent is and take down one of his own, after one of his fellow agents fails to find out who it is during a failed mission to Hungary to find out who it is.
The story is extremely convoluted and filled with hundreds of details that don't really seem all that important, but if you blink, you'll probably miss something. There's lots of characters who have major roles for the parts they're in, but are hardly anywhere to be seen for most of the movie.
Gary Oldman is absolutely incredible in his role as George Smiley. He makes a rather flawed character seem pretty normal and emotionless. I think this is his best role and he delivers the finest performance by any actor in any movie since Christophe Waltz in his role in Inglourious Basterds. All I can say is that if you're a fan of Gary Oldman's work, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not to be missed. The choice is clear for Best Actor across the various awards ceremonies this year. He is absolutely the highlight of the film in my mind.
While the story may be difficult to follow, it is truly a mind bending story with twists and turns at every corner. To most people, it may be difficult to pick out suspects in order to solve the mystery of who the mole is, simply because they're all posing as "the good guys". The movie has a run time of approximately two and a half hours, but I figured out who the mole is (I'm not kidding) ten minutes into the film (like I said, I'm not even kidding about this). That diminished my enjoyment of the film, but not too much. How did I do it? See the movie first, then I'll tell you. Tip: notice how each character is portrayed and what each character does in each scene and how they react to the ongoing conversation.
My biggest problem with the film is how small of a part Colin Firth has. We don't see enough of him and don't see a whole lot of his acting talent. He is truly one of the best actors in the business today and we don't get a very good taste of his acting ability in this film. This is mostly going to be a problem for viewers who have heard a lot about how amazing an actor Colin Firth is and want to see this film to see his talent. Those of you whom happen to be in this situation, I strongly recommend this film, but then you should see The King's Speech (2010), for which he won Best Actor.
Overall, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy can easily be considered one of the best films of the year. While it is a long and very slow paced movie, it's a story that'll keep you interested until the very end. My verdict, GO TO THE THEATER AND SEE IT!!!!
This movie is spying on theaters with an A-.
With so much information being thrown at us, I wish that there was much more time for all of it to just sink in but I liked the fact that the film made you pay attention to every little detail as this story just kept building and building. Everybody here in this cast is great too, especially Oldman who perfectly brings this flick together. Good review. Check out mine when you get the chance.
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