Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

Written by: Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Starring: Gary Oldman, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham

Rating: [4/5]

Individuals with information carry power, especially when the content of it has many suitors in the highest of places. This becomes especially true in the intelligence realm where state secrets get exchanged by these brokers hoping to utilize them for their individual gain. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy invites us into this game of finding the mole with the information in quite an intriguing and nonexplosive manner making it quite the unique viewing experience. 

After an agent gets killed when on assignment to find a mole in the British intelligence community, George Smiley (Gary Oldman) gets tasked with the duty of finding the individual leaking information to the Soviets. As he continues to find the proper evidence to corner the individual responsible, he sifts through all of the agents as these individuals in power would rather not be found out. 

When thinking of spy thrillers, one generally thinks of the exhilarating pulse-pounding movies that bring plenty of twists and turns. While Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy certainly contains tension in its story, it does so in a level manner. It operates as a slow burn in the way it lays out information and then acts upon it as the feature wants us to dig right into this particular sector of British intelligence and the way it operates. It focuses on this group of individuals at the top, who serve as the key suspects of working as a mole and then their underlings. Smiley not only needs to find out the individual without raising any alarms but also must do so emphatically within a very dangerous game. 

With this feature moving at a methodical pace, the film opens with an agent getting shot in the street, which lets us know right away this feature means business, and any of these characters could find themselves on the wrong side of a bullet if they do not play their cards right. It’s what makes this situation quite difficult for Smiley as he operates his investigation but also for everyone he enlists to help, who have their own issues to handle. The more time that lingers, the more desperation begins to seep through the minds of these individuals at the top and the mole in particular making for quite the tense affair. 

Taking place in the 1970s right in the middle of the Cold War, this feature feeds on the paranoia and scare of the Soviets through the eyes of the British. It puts these characters and this intelligence group in an interesting place. They sit between the United States and the Soviet Union geographically across the Atlantic and the British see this as a good opportunity to build connections with the American intelligence community. Tension during this time made any bit of information anyone could share about enemies all the more valuable and even the most tenuous relationships stickier. Who one could trust continually depletes itself as the motives continue to shift and allegiances matter very little when backs get thrown against a wall. Deciphering all of the aspirations and intentions of these characters allows for a richer understanding of figuring out who could possibly appear as a mole. Everything compounds in such a fascinating matter further contributing to what transpires in the feature. 

Large ensembles always serve as a challenge in balancing the talents of everyone involved but this feature truly had a bountiful number of esteemed British actors that had me yelling at the screen stating “Wow, they’re in this too?” From Oldman, who gives an exceptional performance as the calm and measured Smiley, to Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, and John Hurt amongst others. This feature truly gathered a who’s who of British actors and they all brought their A-game to this feature in delivering exactly what we needed from their characters. Whether it be the desperate paranoia of Tom Hardy as Ricki Tarr or the callous anger of Toby Jones as Percy Alleline, they each deliver something sumptuous to take in. 

Certainly operating at its own pace and a bit difficult to decipher in moments because of all the terms thrown out there, Tinker Tailor Solder Spy at times makes you feel like an individual peering into a world we have no idea how to operate. We have individuals with history and various motivations for wanting what they have to continue on without interruption. Therefore, we get a deep dive into this world and the way it operates in maximizing each circumstance and ultimately how to navigate the power of information in an age where tensions ran at an all-time high amongst allies and enemies alike. This feature captures this exact feeling throughout and this general sense of unease culminates into something worth watching, even if it takes multiple watches to fully take in everything operating within this feature.