A good solid old fashioned spy story

Rating: 7/10 (4 January 2012)

I'd been waiting forever for the movie to be released and for the most part it was worth the wait. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been handled very well- for one thing it's so much easier to follow than John Le Carre's novel (but Le Carre fans might disagree).
The first plus point is the plot, which focuses solely on locating a traitor at the top of British secret intelligence, which is known as the Circus. It's very hard to pinpoint, from the viewer's point of view, who the traitor is as we never see any of the main characters engaging in suspicious activity right until the very end and for that it's worth the wait. The acting is another plus, with Marc Strong, Toby Jones and Gary Oldman putting in some strong performances.
The downsides are few but worth noting. It's very important not to lose focus of the story because there are times when the plot deviates and it can be distracting and confusing. Also, if you've read the book it makes following the story easier and also the characters because the familiarity will allow you to over come the slowness of the pacing, which in itself is bit of a negative point. For me, colin firth spoiled the casting as I didn't think he offered much to the movie or towards his character. But then again I dislike firth intensely so that's just a bit of biased opinion. I've also seen the original series that starred Sir Alec Guinness as George Smiley and I preferred Guinness's Smiley to Oldman's. Gary Oldman felt too stiff, too reserved for me to truly enjoy his performance.
However, all that aside, this is a good movie to watch which sets itself apart from the latest Bond action fueled rubbish. Not all cloak and dagger movies need a requisite car chase or an exploding building to be considered quality. This is a definite recommend to all espionage fans.