Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Review)

Gary Oldman got his scopes on.

Director Tomas Alfredson was facing the doubly daunting task of following up his absolutely stunning Let the Right One In with a treacherous adaptation of John le Carre's sprawling Cold War thriller, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. A seven part miniseries had already proven an inadequate amount of screen time to devote to le Carre's novel, what chance did two and a half hours have?

Very little, it turns out. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film that blatantly displays the craft and ability of everyone involved. Alfredson's directing is sharp and focused, leaving no detail untouched. He clearly understands that the world of cold war espionage was one of telling glances and unvoiced suspicions. There will likely not be a better performance by a cast as a whole for quite some time; understandable, given the talent on hand. The production design by Maria Djurkovi and art direction by Tom Brown and Zsuzsa Kismarty-Lechner provide a refreshingly authentic depiction of the period, with added emphasis on the word "refreshingly" when compared to the  CG backdrops of X-Men: First Class and the claustrophobic sets of Mad Men.


Despite every aspect of the film working near-perfectly, the breadth and complexity of the story is ill-suited for a trip to the multiplex. The film tries its utmost, but by the end, the amount of key plot points exposed by assumptions and whispers becomes slightly overwhelming and the emotional impact of the climax is completely undercut by a lack of understanding. It is certainly a movie that begs for repeat viewings, each one of which will require deliberate scrutiny of every line of dialogue and every telling glance.

Also, in what wasn't much of a contest, it has the best trailer of the year.

Even if it does completely steal the title design from Inception.