Poor remake - watch the original.

Rating: 2/10 (5 October 2011)

If you have never watched the original then you won't know just how good this story is. Gary Goldman's acting is rather similar to a manikin; his expressionless stares are an example of how poor so many actors are nowadays. He is no Alec Guinness! The original series really did capture the atmosphere of the civil service this poor remake showed that the director had little idea of what British government offices are really like. Also, he totally failed in all the characterisations. Many top civil servants are ex-public school and this was so very well portrayed in the original series and totally missed in this film. Each character in the story was wrongly portrayed in the film – especially Connie. Smiley's introvert and flawed personality was completely missed and the phoney happy ending with his wife was so pathetic. The violence in this film was gratuitous and wholly unnecessary – as was the foul language, including the murder of a woman who was feeding her baby was a reflection of a sick minded and second rate director. Rather than me list the numerous flaws in this film just do the sensible thing. Watch the original.