This weekend saw the release of two highly anticipated movies:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Though I toyed with the idea of going to
Sherlock Holmes, the reader in me persuaded otherwise. To be frank, the fact that the lead characters Holmes and Watson have been distorted and tweaked to suit an action adventure is, needless to say, an insult to one of literature's greatest creations. That alone convinced me to go
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which is also coincidentally an onscreen adaptation of John le Carré's 1974 British spy thriller of the same name. Set in London in the 1970's, the movie, about George Smiley's (Gary Oldman) hunt for a Russian mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service following an allegation made by agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy), is by turns exciting and cerebral. Based on a screenplay written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, director Tomas Alfredson's refreshing take on the spy genre makes the intricate puzzle a pleasure to watch on screen. Rarely does a movie demand so much attention from the viewer, and for a thriller that entirely hinges on conversations, the climactic payoff is not just exhilarating but also intellectually satisfying.
