Those who have read the synopsis or seen the trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might think to themselves that it is another spy thriller with tons of action and suspense on the level of James Bond or Jason Bourne. Those who enter the theater on such assumptions will find that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a much different creature. Although the plot seems like action film gold (the hunt for a communist mole inside MI6 during the height of the Cold War), the whole movie is played out as more of a detective noir than a spy thriller.
The atmosphere of the film is gray and bland, with a constant feeling of paranoia that sinks in with not only the characters, but with the audience too.
The film follows the efforts of George Smiley (Gary Oldman), an ex-MI6 agent who is forced out of the agency after the audience witnesses a mission in Budapest fail miserably in the first ten minutes of the film.
Oldman’s character is the protagonist, yet while the audience comes to learn more about him than many of the other characters, Smiley remains an enigma right into the credits.
From opening credits to the close, viewers are in constant confusion as to what is going on. The story weaves in and out of comprehension where just as they think they’ve got a grasp on it, a plot twist and a flashback sends viewers right back into the pits of confusion.
Throughout the film the audience is trying to stay one step behind Mr. Smiley as he investigates the conspiracy, and even staying that close would require the viewer to have read the book on which it is based.
What this movie lacks in comprehensibility and flow, it makes up for in memorable performances by the many famous actors that are in it, including Collin Firth (The Kings Speech), Mark Strong (Kickass), Tom Hardy (Inception), John Hurt (Harry Potter), and of course Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight).
Each character has their own flaws and vices as well as a good side that they try to put forward which assists in making what comes next in the plot and what each character does with the information they obtain an unwinnable guessing game.
To make things even more confusing, within the film there is another plot being played out between the characters. While their business relationships are pushing them to make life and death decisions, their love lives and relationships with other lesser characters are directly influenced and at some points come to influence the main plot itself.
This movie lacks a lot of the action many expect from a spy thriller, but that’s not to say that action is completely absent. A couple scenes depict gruesome executions at the hands of Russian agents, as well as a man killing an owl with a baseball bat. They’re the kind of violent scenes that make you squirm in your seats rather than engage and excite you.
Although the ending ties up a couple of loose ends, it ends a rather fast and anti-climactic fashion. The final scenes are set to Charles Trenet’s Le Mer which plays gently in the background as part of a poetic ending that makes viewers want to forget the marathon of confusion they endured for the last two hours.
Viewers who enjoy movies that require a lot of thought would enjoy this one the most. It asks the audience to stay on their toes and thinking through the clues to try and solve the mystery. The true mystery behind the film, however, comes the end when you feel that you missed a lot of important information, but you really don’t care and just want to go home.
My recommendation: wait for it to come out on Netflix. I give it 2 and a half stars out of 4.
