We watched the new film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night. It has had lots of praise and I think Gary Oldman is up for an Oscar for playing George Smiley.
It was nice to watch a film where the plot mattered more than the amount of blood and dashing around. There was possibly rather more film of Smiley swimming in a lake than was necessary, and at times I thought they lost the tension a little bit by taking it too slowly. It was a film you had to pay attention to otherwise you had no hope of keeping up with the plot. However I wondered why Colin Firth was in it because he hardly had anything to say - there was one bit at the end where he actually had to act but the rest of the time he just had to be there.
It is - I suppose - because of celebrity. The more big names you get the 'better' the film. It isn't the case of course because sometimes a celebrity stuffed film is dreadful and a film where you have heard of no one is wonderful, but I do sometimes watch films because of the actor being in it. Gary Oldman was very good, and conveyed a man who knew a lot while saying little very well. I don't remember the Alec Guinness tv version but I am tempted to get it out of the library and watch it because I would be curious to see Guinness doing it.
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