Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Synopsis: A then topically relevant le Carré becomes an ad nauseum British trope in the genre although quite unintentionally.

This one is good though because is essentially a counterintelligence story which is a little rare in the oeuvre that is spy movies.  Oh, for sure, you’ll have “the mole” as a plot device and sometimes a mole hunt but I thought this was a musty, dry, leathery refresher back to the 70’s.  Seriously, that decade had a smell that is still permeating Goodwill and Salvation Army stores the world over.  Obviously, in the intelligence world, there were some very significant things going on in the years from 1963 to 1975.  The book to this movie came out in 1973 so it would have been quite on point at that period in time.

I know there’s a weird Cumberbatchian fetish going on right now but I hope I’m not the only one who finds it weird to see Gary Oldman as the good guy.  My first exposure to him that I consciously remember his face was as Norman Stansfield back in the day.  Now he’s into this strange sort of Commissioner Gordon fix but hey, at least he does it well.  It’s probably a nice change to play the good guy for once, although to be honest, I thought he was the bad guy until I hit the googler during a slow section and caught up on some plot spoilers.

I don’t know that I learned a lot but I would heartily recommend this movie to anyone with an interest in the intelligence world from any angle.  There’s a little too much quiet movement with languidly sonorous background music reminiscent of The Whistleblower and Post Mortem but the tension and intrigue grew quite well.

TL;DR
If The Dark Knight Falls had a baby with Sherlock Holmes (2010 TV series) and that baby grew up and married Argo and had a grandchild, then you would have Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

–Kryptosfan