Review of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) by Robert I — 22 Jan 2013

This film feels like only a partial successful adaptation of the book (which I have not read). There's a few characters that aren't explored, storylines that could be better connected, and an emotional disconnect to several scenes. All things I feel like the novel probably got into. So those that read it, probably got more out of the film than I did.

The ensemble is very well cast, the suspects being former movie villains themselves. There's several stand out sequences: Tom Hardy's flashback, the young agent's assignment to retrieve a file, and a couple scenes involving Mark Strong and a bird. But the strength of these scenes do not carry through to the others.

While a good movie, I feel it is not a great one. What's holding it back doesn't feel like the fault of the cast or crew, but rather the screenwriters adapting the book. But that is speculation, I have not read it. As a movie though, the film has a few flaws that outshine its strengths.