Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Film 47/50

As mentioned in prior posts, I will see any movie starring Gary Oldman. Add an ensemble cast that features the likes of John Hurt, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tom Hardy, and one would think it the recipe for the greatest movie of all time. Unfortunately, this one was a bit slow.

And I liked the book better.

Ah, well. They can't all be "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" meets the Silver Screen (the only instance I can think of where the film is equal to, if not surpasses, the quality of the text).

Don't get me wrong. This film is not horrendous. In fact, it matches the mood and pacing of the book quite well (which is to say, the book was also slow). However, there were certain changes to the story that I did not find either necessary or beneficial. In the book, I loved the character of Jim Prideaux. The movie version (played by Mark Strong) was good but never given the chance to warm up to the audience. Instead, Peter Guilliam (played by Cumberbatch) fills that void. While I adore Cumberbatch as an actor (particularly in the titular role on the British TV series Sherlock), I missed having that connection to Prideaux in this film.

Additionally, the unfolding of Ricki Tarr's backstory fell short for me in the film adaptation. Tarr (portrayed by Hardy) comes across as the lovestruck spy found in the novel, but the telling of his adventures in Moscow were quite different in the book. And without giving too many details away, the book was far superior in how it presented Tarr and Irina's love affair.

Now granted, my general dissatisfaction with the film may very well be a result of knowing who the mole was in advance combined with the overly high expectation I had assigned this cast. And again, this was not in any way, shape or form a horrible movie. In fact, I found the overall style both elegant and appropriate, and the actors were superb in their respective parts.

But perhaps this story and its characters are too complex to present in a mere two hours. Maybe the miniseries starring Alec Guinness will be better?