TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Based on John le Carre's novel of the same name, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a dramatic thriller. However, despite there being no car chase sequences or gun shoot-outs, it's still a compelling watch. It also features some of Britain's best actors and a compelling narrative.

The film is set in the 1970s during the Cold War and begins with the head of British Intelligence, Control (John Hurt), resigning after an operation in Budapest goes wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was, in fact, a Russian agent - a mole - and the Hungary operation was an attempt to find out who that mole was. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.

For several decades, the spy/thriller genre has been dominated by one name: James Bond. The Bond films consist of the famous spy himself fighting antagonists by using high-tech gadgets whilst hooking up with female love interests. For those who tend to get bored of the Bond films, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy gives a fresh take on the spy/thriller genre. This is due to the solid performances from the actors and the thrilling narrative.

Instead of Bond, there's Smiley. George Smiley. And he's portrayed by the very talented Gary Oldman. It's hard to believe that this is the same actor who portrayed Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films and Detective Jim Gordon in Christoper Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy. Oldman doesn't do any death-defying stunts or fire guns at villains. We see him questioning suspects and learning things about Control he didn't know. Oldman proves you don't need a gun or to perform any stunts in order to be a good spy. John Hurt gives a strong performance as Control, the film opens with him wanting to know the identity of the mole and we see his determination. Despite dying during the opening credits, we see Control in various flashback sequences. Tom Hardy is great as Ricki Tarr, an agent that went rogue during a mission in Instanbul. He confesses to Smiley the reason why he went rogue and that's because he fell in love. He feels guilty for what happened and we can clearly see that through Hardy's mesmirising performance. Other recognisable names include: Mark Strong as one of the MI6 agents, Jim Prideux; Colin Firth as another MI6 agent, Bill Haydon; Benedict Cumberbatch as Peter Guillam, Smiley's trustee who is willing to help him and Toby Jones as Percy Alleline, the new Chief of the Circus. Overall, there's not a bad performance to be found in this cast of Britain's most talented actors.

We also see another story developing at the same time. In the opening of the film, we see the mission in Hungary going tragically wrong and ending in Prideux being shot. Fortunately, he's not dead. As we soon find out, he has been secretly hiding and working as a language teacher at an all boys school. This subplot is important to the main narrative as we learn things about other agents as Prideux confides in a lonely school boy.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of my review, this film proves that car chase sequences or pointless gun shoot-outs are not needed for spy thrillers. With utmost skill, director Tomas Alfredson pieces together a dense puzzle of anxiety, paranoia and espionage without having to rely on boring and predictable action sequences. The climax is very tense as we find out who the mole is and may take people by surprise. 

Overall, this is a heavily plot driven spy thriller with a compelling narrative and brilliant performances from every actor involved.

8/10