And now, for the second movie I saw on Monday night, this one being the film I was going to hold off for a while until it became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to see this or J. Edgar during the morning and decided to make a night trip to my local cinema. Now all I have to do is wait for Young Adult (and now, as I have found out, Martha Marcy May Marlene) on DVD and my original plans are back into place.
Anyway, today's review is for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a film that overseas locations have had for a while but for some reason, we've only had it for about two weeks.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is based on the book by John le Carre and before this film, it was previously adapted for TV, with Alec Guinness playing the lead role in a seven-part series.
During the 70's, British Intelligence is trying to establish an alliance with US intelligence agencies using Soviet intelligence, codenamed “Witchcraft”, authorised by the recently promoted chief, Percy Alleline (Toby Jones). Due to suspicions of a mole in the upper echelon of British Intelligence, George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is brought out of retirement to track down the mole and ascertain the full story on what happened in the incident that lead to his forced retirement.
Like a lot of movies I've seen in the past few years, I did not read the book before seeing the movie and in a lot of cases, it's because when I find out about the movie, I find out about the book at the same time and it usually doesn't give me enough time to track it down and read it before the movie gets released. That's not to say I haven't, though, I made a special point of doing so for The Lovely Bones and as for One For The Money, I had read the book long before a movie was even considered (and despite the casting of Katherine Heigl, I'm still very much looking forward to it).
And nor have I seen the original adaptation either, I probably will one day but it's a manner of finding it.
If you've noticed that I've gone this far without saying much else on the movie itself, well, there's a bit of a confession to that: besides the points I'll get into below, I actually don't have much to say on this one.
That's not to say it's a bad film, no, not at all. It's just... average, really. The spy stuff is pretty much the usual fare for the genre. I will say, though, that it almost acts more like a mystery thriller as opposed to action thriller. I mean, sure, there's bit of action but not loads and loads of shootouts or anything like that. Usually just a single shot to the head or torso, taken out relatively quick and painlessly. So, that does work in its favour.
The tone and feel of the film is very bleak, very depressing. Most colours you see are drab and dreary, it's almost like there's a shadow over England thanks to all this spy business (locking horns with the Soviets wouldn't have helped), almost like the paranoia has manifested into grey skies. Though that's probably in the book, that theme. But since I haven't read it, I still think it's a somewhat valid observation.
Related to that is its a quiet film too, if that makes sense. Characters don't normally talk unless they have something important to say. George Smiley might just be the quietest of the lot, speaking only when he needs to and keeping it short and sweet, for the most part. I'm guessing they've got a mindset of not saying too much lest they be monitored by paranoid superiors or enemy agents.
Speaking of Smiley, well, what can I say about Gary Oldman? I believe at one point he was dubbed “the ultimate chameleon” or something along those lines and really, when you look at his filmography, you can see how he earned it. Personally, while I've never hated anything I've seen him in, and some of what's been a part of are among my favourite films, my pick for his best role is a tie between Norman Stansfield in Leon and Mason Verger in Hannibal (I bet no one's ever actually put those two roles as a tie for first). And is we've come to expect by now, he's more than capable here. I believe within the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, he doesn't say a word and, much like I said above, he says very little. Gary and fellow actor John Hurt (who plays Smiley's boss, before his death) both look weary and you get a vibe that says “we can't keep going on like this”, most likely because of the line of work they're in. You may also notice that they are two of the few people portrayed as being relatively good, being not corrupt or backstabbing.
Out of the rest of the uncorrupted, the strongest performance (no pun intended) comes from Mark Strong, playing Jim Prideaux. Now, I want to take a moment out go state this: holy crap, someone actually cast Mark Strong in the role of a good guy! I mean, as good a person as you can be in this line of work, but still, he's not the villain! OK, he's been a fantastic villain and I acknowledge he hasn't always played a villain (see Stardust) but come on, when you think of him, what's the first role of his you think of? Most likely, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes or Kick-Ass (and don't say Green Lantern is an example of a heroic role. While Sinestro was indeed a good guy in that film, and Mark being one of the best features, the sequel will change all that and that is not a spoiler, even if you're not a comic book fan. So, let's say Green Lantern is on the borderline).
But with that out of the way, he's one of the most conflicted characters in the movie. After being forced to leave the services of British Intelligence, he becomes a supply/substitute teacher and forms a somewhat odd bond with an odd boy, acting like a sort of mentor/father figure.
Mark's portrayal is that of a bitter and angry man, feeling betrayed by the very people he thought he knew and often craves his solitude, fearing his past will seep into anything new. His is my favourite performance of the film and he's quickly becoming one of my favourite actors.
So, that's all I have to say. Sorry that there couldn't be more meat to it but I just didn't find much to comment on. And that doesn't make the film bad, just not something to write home about (despite writing a blog about it... I need a better analogy). Anyway, I still recommend it and give it 3/5
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