Review: Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Score:B+

Director:Tomas Alfredson

Cast:Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, John Hurt

Running Time:127.00

Rated:R

Based on the popular British novel by John le Carre, Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is a unique and suspense filled espionage thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat as you anxiously anticipate the film's final reveal.

Gary Oldman does a magnificent job as George Smiley, a detective who is brought back from forced retirement to uncover the mole that is sending vital British intelligence to the Russians during the 1970s.  Colin Firth, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong and Tom Hardy round out an extraordinary cast that shows no weakness as everyone steps up the plate and delivers a stellar performance.

The film itself is intense and complex.  Story lines weave within one another as audiences are taken on a wild ride, seeing the world through the eyes of Smiley as he attempts to uncover the culprit and make sense of the situation.

For fans of the best selling novel, you will likely be disappointed with the path the story takes.  Granted I have never read the book myself, writer Peter Straughan admits that there were some key changes in order to make the dense book adaptable for the big screen.

The film's most riveting scene comes near the middle when one of Smiley's assistants is attempting to confiscate a set of documents.  The scene doesn't feature a single shot, but I found myself holding my breath as I anxiously awaited a verdict to his success.  It is this style of filmmaking that makes Tomas Alfredson's film a must-see affair.  Missing out would be nothing short of a crime!

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About Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis
I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.

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