Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011, France/UK/Germany
The best part of this movie were the performances. Gary Oldman received his first Academy Award nomination for his role, and he deserves it. While I would have preferred to see him get a nomination for some of his earlier work, I’m just glad to see him finally get recognized by the Academy.
George Smiley (Oldman) was forced into retirement following an incident in Hungary involving Jim Predeaux (Mark Strong). He is asked to return to British Intelligence (“The Circus”) to investigate a mole. He is assisted in his investigation by Peter (Benedict Cumberbatch). The suspects are narrowed down to five top members of British Intelligences, “Tinker” (Toby Jones), “Tailor” (Colin Firth), “Soldier” (Ciarán Hinds), “Poorman” (David Dencik), and “Beggarman” (Oldman).
Admittedly, the movie was a bit slow. I also had some difficulty keeping all of the characters straight. Each character referred to other characters by their last name or by their code name, so it was always a bit confusing. It made the plot quite hard to follow, but I did manage to figure everything out by the end. The second half of the movie was superior to the first half. From what I’ve heard, it’s easier to keep track of the plot if you’ve read the book. I didn’t read the book prior to seeing the movie, so I may have to buy a copy of the book. Has anyone read the book?
Oldman was excellent, but I have to give credit to all of the actors in the movie. There was a huge amount of talent in this movie. I really love watching an ensemble cast full of talented actors, because it’s such a joy to see gifted actors working together. Firth was very good, as well. I’ve seen Cumberbatch in a number of supporting roles in the last few years, and he’s always been very memorable to me. He’s a great actor and he always does a lot with limited screen time. I’m sure he will be a household name in a year or two.
I did enjoy the tone of the movie. There was tension and intrigue surrounding the main mystery of the film. I had no idea how it would end before it ended, and, despite the slow pace, I remained interested until the very end. The Cold War era is a very interesting time period, and I do enjoy seeing films that cover the political issues of that era.






