Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: An elegant spy thriller

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Trailer on YouTube

Based on the novel by John le Carre (which, admittedly, I have not read), the newly released film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is, in a word, "elegant". Which may seem like an odd description of a spy-thriller set during the Cold War in the 1970's, but that is exactly what the film is. Director Tomas Alfredson takes full advantage of all the tools available to him as a director to create a somehow perfect combination of a quiet, thoughtful film full of character studies and lingering camera shots, and a tense spy thriller that keeps your interest right to the end.

Actor Mark Strong's performance as Jim Prideaux is of particular depth and interest, along with Gary Oldman's turn as George Smiley (the main character of the film). All parts it seems, are perfectly cast, with each actor bringing something valuable to the film, whether it's that of a young spy gone rogue, or someone in the "upper management" of British intelligence, there are certainly no excess in characters.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that the story itself bounces back and forth from the past to the present, but it is not jarring to the audience. The story is simply well-told, and the film is very well-done. If you are looking for thrilling car chases, and spies that are really action heroes, then this is not the film for you. This is the kind of film that engages the audience on an intellectual level. The actors are well-cast, and the characters are multi-layered, mysteries themselves, leaving you wanting to know more about them as the film closes.

But perhaps that's the point of a well done spy-thriller, to make you guess and not know right to the end, and to leave you wanting more of this muted and very proper world of British Intelligence and secret documents, double agents and double crosses.

Full Cast & Credits at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/