In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.
If there is any flaw to the film, it's that the whistle is blown too soon and that some eagle-eyed George Smiley types are liable to identity the bad apple before Smiley does himself. But possibly even that doesn't matter as much as it might, because Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is finally more about the journey than the destination; more fascinated with the detail than the denouement.
Alfredson's movie doesn't have richness and depth of characterisation of the Alec Guinness version, but once the hunt is afoot, this Smiley Redux turns into a rattling good spy yarn in its own right.
Prepare to lose yourself – in every sense – in a labyrinth of double-agents, deception and damn fine acting from the year’s best British line-up. Oldman at least deserves the Oscar nod he’s been long denied.
This is a madly atmospheric movie, requiring close attention throughout. Elusive and elliptical, it's a film about spies, but also the muted reckoning we all have to make when confronted with age, judgment and betrayal.
Understated, gabby and complicated, Alfredson’s picture is everything marketing bods advise a movie not to be in these attention deficient times. Yet rich man, poor man, beggar man or just a regular cinemagoer, new to the story or not, you’ll relish being one of Smiley’s people.
Utterly absorbing, extremely smart and - considering this is a sad, shabby, drably grey-green world of obsessives, misfits, misdirection, disillusionment, self-delusion and treachery - quite beautifully executed.
What a treat this film is, and what an unexpected thrill.
This bloodless, bloodthirsty John Le Carre adaptation doesn't hang together.
Gary Oldman heads a supreme cast in this masterful rendering of le Carre’s classic.
A classier, more thoughtful and elegantly paced thriller is difficult to conceive, with Oldman’s understated and multi-layered performance bewitching.
Unglamorous, yes, and, as we shall see, unreconstructed. But certainly not unexciting.
The perfect grown-up film for an autumn night as the light fades and the world grows a little colder.
Classy new take on a classic.
Lots of great acting, but not a lot of excitement.
Awards may come tumbling its way but I spy a quick death at the box office.
The picture is so busy expounding plot and exposition - this happened, that happened - there is precious little time for characters and relationships to breathe and evolve, precluding the development of any kind of meaningful theme or contemporary resonance.
A classy story of duplicity and paranoia from an uncompromisingly gifted filmmaker. Awards glory beckons.
This is a movie that surprises and satisfies in unexpected and pleasing ways.
You'll feel your own synapses working at full tilt as you watch this intelligent, bracing, consummately achieved entertainment.
Alfredson has produced a riveting version of a classic book, one that stands as an equal alongside its television forebear.
Alfredson’s cinematic offering is not an easy-to-follow fast-paced Hollywood thriller and is infinitely better for it. The film requires the viewer to connect the dots, and given the number of characters, code names, languages and geographic locations featured, this can be confusing. However, the storyline is secondary to the relationship between characters and the devastatingly realistic insight offered into the life of a spy.
After the hyperkinetic Bonds and Bournes of the last few years, perhaps it’s time for a more measured, mature spy genre to come in from the cold.
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General release. Check local listings for show times.
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