You might not think portraying George Smiley, the unassuming operative at the center of John le Carre’s novel “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” would be much of a challenge for Gary Oldman. The actor, after all, has played such historical icons as Ludwig van Beethoven, Pontius Pilate and Dracula. But someone had already turned Smiley into an icon himself: The great English actor Alec Guinness brought the character to life in a 1979 BBC miniseries. Le Carre’s complicated story suffers from being turned from a 300-plus-page novel and five-hour miniseries into a two-hour film. There simply isn’t time to explain the many machinations of the plot. Many viewers will be left out in the cold.
But Oldman does his job admirably. As do the other players in this high-stakes drama: “Tinker Tailor” has an outstanding ensemble cast: Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Strong.
| On screen |
| ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ |
| 3 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hardy |
| Director: Tomas Alfredson |
| Rated: R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language |
| Running time: 127 minutes |
Hurt, unfortunately, isn’t on screen long. Control, the head of the Circus — as insiders refer to Britain’s MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service — suspects there’s a high-placed mole in the organization. He sends an agent (Strong) to Hungary to find a man who knows the identity of the double agent.
But the mole is too good: The agent is shot before he can make the meet. Control is fired, along with his deputy, Smiley, and a new crew takes over. Control dies, but his mission lives on: Government officials realize Control was right, and bring Smiley out of retirement to ferret out the mole. It’s a difficult job, and not just because of the sensitive secrecy required. Every suspect is a colleague, and some are even friends.
“Tinker Tailor” is a welcome throwback to old-time espionage stories. They haven’t quite been the same since the Cold War ended. Le Carre’s ambivalence about that kind of war, and the way it was waged, are on full display, despite the slimmed-down storyline.
It sometimes seems as though le Carre feels there’s a moral equivalence between the evil England was fighting, and the way it fought it. Even in the small stuff. But there’s no question he — and Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, making his English-language debut — has a moral sense. The mole has betrayed his country and his friends. E.M. Forster made a famous declaration about which was worse.
We never quite get why the double agent decided to do so. But human evil, even in its shades of grey, is ultimately inexplicable, isn’t it?
