poorly done remake of a very good series

Rating: 1/10 (22 August 2012)

The BBC mini series staring Alec Guinness was a truly great program. The acting was well done, the sets were appropriate and the story was well told. This remake wasn't any of those things. Many crucial aspects of the book that were included in the BBC version were left out, probably due to a lack of time. The actor who portrayed George Smiley, Gary Oldman, was not even in the same class of actors as Alec Guinness and was not able to carry the film as did Guinness when there was not much action nor could he display the range of emotion Guinness expressed with very small changes in expression, such as a slightly raised eyebrow in disbelief or the blankness of face when he needed to show no emotion. In the BBC version, you could feel the discomfort of Ricky Tarr as he was quietly interrogated by George Smiley. I would recommend that a person skip this version and go directly to the BBC version which is available on CD. After viewing that, see Smiley's people, the sequel.