I feel cheated

Rating: 6/10 (17 January 2012)

I just came out from seeing the premiere in France. Don't get me wrong, the movie had its qualities. It was original, with incredible acting, and had a genuine feel to it. By reading all the other reviews, genuine is clearly the most used word to describe this film. As all the reviewers pointed out, this isn't a bond film, so I wasn't expecting any action. But what I was expecting was a great thriller, filled with suspense. The problem is that I didn't know how genuine and how close to reality this movie really was. What deceived me the most was the trailer.
In the trailer, they sum up every bit of action and suspense this film has or has not (I will get to the "has not" part in just a sec). Add to these seemingly gripping scenes one of the most suspenseful soundtracks ever, and you give yourself a certain image of what this film is about. The way they edited the scenes in the trailer, I felt like this would be the most suspenseful spy movie ever made. It looked like everybody was plotting against each other, that nobody really trusted each other, and that all the characters were paranoid, thus spying on each other. So no, I wasn't expecting any action. But yes, I was expecting suspense, paranoia, some back-stabbing, twists and turns, and a shocking finale. I didn't get any of these. I feel cheated.
The trailer lied to me. It gave me great expectations that just weren't met. The guys who made the trailer used clever editing to make this movie seem to be something that it's not. The scenes they used seem gripping, but they really aren't. For example, the scene where you see Hardy's character in a car with a girl looks like a car chase. Well it's not. They're just randomly driving in a port. In the scene where the elevator opens as Toby is putting on his gloves, Peter appears behind him and you get the feeling it was to kill him. Well it isn't. He just gives him a ride so that Smiley can talk to him. In the scene where Mark Strong's character looks through the scope of his rifle, it looks like he is about to kill one of main characters. Well he does, but only at the very end, after the latter is arrested for being the mole, and was going to die anyways. So it doesn't affect the plot in any way. Even the soundtrack had nothing to do with the movie.
One can argue that this movie was meant to be genuine, and close to reality. But how close to reality can a SPY movie be without being boring? People face reality every day of their lives. And when we go to the movies, it is to be entertained, or enjoy a masterpiece, a work of art. Not to be bored to death. And I don't necessarily need an action packed movie to be entertained. I'm not condemning all "close to reality" movies. I really enjoyed "The Descendants". I'm just saying that if you're going to make a spy movie, make a damn spy movie! This movie was boring, I didn't care for any of the characters, it didn't have any suspense, you pretty much trust everybody from the start except for TINKER, TAILOR and SOLDIER, and the whole movie built up to a lame finale. The only scene where I was on the edge of my seat was the scene where peter steals the file. I was like "omg, omg, what's going to happen?". Well guess what happened: absolutely NOTHING. And in the finale, when the mole tries to explain why he switched sides, he just says "It was a question of moral. The western world has become so ugly. Don't you think?". Not only does his explanation feel weak and vague, but he also asks Smiley for his opinion, showing that he isn't even certain of what he is saying.
Finally, what I'm saying is that this movie has a great cast that gives great performances, has a genuine feel to it, but is nothing like the trailer depicts it to be, and is actually quite boring. And I don't agree with those who say that it's a piece of art, or that you need to be intelligent to appreciate it. You don't need a brain to understand this movie. There's nothing surprising about it, no hidden message, nothing is left to interpretation. It's all pretty simple, and all pretty dull.
I gave it 6 out of 10 for its great acting. Otherwise I would have given it considerably less.