A cerebral film, pleasure for the connoisseur

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2012)

There are at the very least two good reasons for choosing to see this movie. First, it's a John le Carré novel based movie; those who are fans (countless), need no further explanation. For those who don't know the works (not literary inclined), you may have watched other movies based on his work, such as 'The Tailor of Panama', 'The Russia House', 'The Constant Gardner', and for the more mature crowd, 'The Little Drummer Girl' and 'The Spy Who Came In from The Cold'. The works, except for only a few, are espionage thrillers, but not the Ian Fleming/James Bond sort; these are more psychological thrillers than action thrillers. They are cerebral and require a reasonable attention span, well maybe a bit more. The pay-off for those who like these works is simple; at the end, you feel satisfied much in the same way as if you had solved a puzzle or won a game of strategy. If you're a bit geeky, you might say, you get a 'rush', okay .The second reason to pick this movie is the outstanding cast; Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Colin Firth are first rate in any movie, any, and Tom Hardy is no slouch either. If that wasn't enough, the director Tomas Alfredson does a superb job of getting maximum effect from that cast. I've seen just one other movie by that director, 'Let The Right One In' and he can navigate the realm of the dark with a certain flair.
You can expect some ambiguous scenes, a necessary form to maintain the audience in captive mode, and great if you later reflect on them or discuss the story with friends. You will not forget such movie. None of the characters escape unscathed in the stories, and in this one in particular, thus the movie feels real, not a fantasy. The characters are like pieces in a chess game and in this film the metaphor is even used with brilliant subtlety. No surprise le Carré fans love his work. I could go on and on. If what I've described sounds the least bit interesting, then see it. Don't just take my word, read a few other reviews and critics; you'll see.