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| Gary Oldman straightens his glasses as the lead spy on the poster for Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
QUICK REVIEW:
Once in the Cold War, Mr. Smiley is frozen out of the intelligence Circus in London, only to be recruited again to find and root out the Soviet mole that plagues the very same institution.
Good performances by Gary Oldman (Lawless (2012)), Mark Strong (John Carter (2012)) and David Dencik (The Homesman (2014)) improve but do not save this unnecessarily knobbly told intelligence thriller, the second adaptation, following the same-titled 1979 BBC mini-series, of John Le Carré's (The Russia House (1989)) 1974 novel. Adapted by Bridget O'Connor (Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution (2007)), who sadly passed away during production, and her husband Peter Straughan (Frank (2014)).
Aesthetically this version, by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In/Låt den Rätte Komma In (2008)) in his English-language debut, gorges on the period's ugliest, most color-deprived misery, just like the BBC series did. Only this new Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has a little more blood and higher pace than the dragging show had. I was also frustrated that there is no clear indices of the year that the plot takes place in.
Ultimately, I think Alfredson's film is another rather dull cinematic round based on Carré material; this one is excessively esoteric as well as severely unattractive due to its asceticism.
Watch the great trailer for the film here, which makes it look exceedingly exciting
Cost: 21 mil. $
Box office: 80.6 mil. $
= Big hit
[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was tremendously successful in its native UK, (though it is, in fact, a UK-German-French co-production), where it made 14 mil. £ and stayed #1 for three consecutive weeks. It also made a handsome 24.1 mil. $ (30 % of the total gross) in North America. The film was also nominated for three Oscars, for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score (Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardner (2005))) and Best Actor (Oldman), winning none.]
What do you think of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy?
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