Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Focus Features)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Studio: Focus Features

Dec 09, 2011 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

Even an ensemble cast of a very high pedigree can't overcome a plot that's been compacted into near-incomprehensibility. John Le Carré's bestselling Cold War thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was previously adapted as an acclaimed seven-part BBC miniseries. Even then, several of the thick novel's complexities had to be smoothed over to account for limited screen time; squeezed down to just two hours, this new Tinker is, at many points, boggling. Important events are forced to occur off screen, and so many threads are left hanging that even viewers familiar with the source material are apt to find themselves playing mental catch-up.

Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, and Mark Strong round out a cast that at times seems as confused as the audience, while Gary Oldman, starring as retired MI6 agent George Smiley, does his best to spin it all together. Who is the mole at the top of the British Secret Intelligence Service? Is it one crusty British suit referred to exclusively by a code name, or the other? (Or maybe it's that other one, over there?) Are we supposed to be in Budapest or Istanbul right now? Who's sleeping with whose wife? Be prepared to take a lot of notes. (www.focusfeatures.com)

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