Soporific snoozer, for espionage diehards only!

Rating: 5/10 (16 December 2011)

Although I normally love deep-digging dramas, this one may well be the very slowest movie I've ever sat through.
I was drawn in by some great reviews of this movie, undaunted by warnings that it was NOT an action film, since Bruce Willis and Nic Cage are not my cup of tea. But I actually did fall asleep twice because the pace was that numbing.
I can't say this is a bad movie, per se, but it simply PLODS soooo slowly. In addition, the film is dark and old-looking, recreating the 70s in Europe, I suppose, and this added to the soporific effect.
Complicating matters further, it was difficult to follow the details of what was going on and keep the large number of players straight. Who are the characters? Great actors playing a whole lot of unattractive old white men (yes, even Colin Firth becomes a smarmy middleaged white guy). I think there were a couple of women in there, one of whom was a bright light with the amusing line, "I don't know about you, George, but I'm feeling seriously underfucked." Could have used more of her...
If you're a die-hard espionage fan, you will probably like this. Otherwise, pick something more lively.