Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

Written by: Bridget O'Connor (screenplay), Peter Straughan (screenplay), John le Carré (novel)

I reviewed the original novel here not too long ago, so I won't bother mentioning a plot summary. Let's just move straight into analysis here.

Going into it, I was worried that the running time of the film would require huge chunks of the novel to be truncated. The screenwriters did a fantastic job of keeping the core story together while making only minor alterations to the side stories. Aside from opening the film with what happened on the operation in Hungary (which is not revealed until near the end of the novel), the most important elements of the story were kept almost entirely intact.

The acting performances are all superb. Gary Oldman is excellent as George Smiley, though the character is intended to be mild-mannered and quiet. All of the supporting cast, such as Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch, really shine in their smaller parts.

Some of the symbolism, especially the bloody tear drop at the end, was a bit heavy-handed.

I did have one major blind spot in regards to this film - I'd already read the novel, so I knew what was going on. The major criticism I've heard in regards to this film is that so much of what goes on is very subtle that it becomes very hard to follow. I was able to follow it fine, but I can see where it might have been confusing for those not already familiar, especially in regards to the Ricki Tarr flashbacks and the sting operation at the end. There are also many tertiary characters - such as Bland, Alleline, and that bunch - whose roles and jobs are much more clear in the novel but are inserted in the film with little to no explanation.

It's nice to see a good spy film that doesn't resort to James Bond style action. The ideas of espionage and double-agents have fallen into darkness when it comes to spy stories. It was nice to see them revived.

Overall, I'd recommend this film. It's a bit long, but well worth it, if only for Oldman and Hardy's performances.

Love Actually

Written and Directed by: Richard Curtis

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, so I'm only now getting to a film I saw in the days leading up to Christmas.

To start, I'm not a fan of movies with huge ensemble casts featuring piles of mega-stars. Most of the time they end up being incredibly massive puddles of puke. Typically, they pull their actors from as many different age and interest groups so as to attract the biggest audience as possible, while simultaneously watering down the plot and removing any drama to make sure that not a single person in the audience is offended or turned-off. (See: "Valentine's Day" and "New Years's Day.)

But, Richard Curtis's "Love Actually" is different. From the first time I saw it, it exceeded my wildest expectations and has now become annual viewing during the Christmas season.

There are too many different plots interwoven together for me to bother breaking down here. Suffice to say that all of them touch on the topic of love, although from many different aspects and angles. Present at different times throughout the movie are newfound love, unrequited love, love as inspiration, fading love, brotherly love, love for family, love across language barriers, and even youthful lust.

What makes "Love Actually" a great movie is that it somehow convinces you to like and care about all the characters. The characters are sincere and feel real, even if they are not necessarily believable. (Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister of England? No way!) The audience is drawn in to each character's desires.

The film also manages to avoid being overly dramatic, though one or two of the plots have some rather dramatic elements. Too often in these types of films, "plot" is confused with "life-changing drama," which can diminish a film if the card is played too often. Instead, "Love Actually" keeps the various plots fresh and moves them forward through smaller encounters and incidents. It was also nice to see how the different stories were woven together

I do have to say that the film does have some drawbacks. About 95% of the film is family-friendly, there is one story line which features nudity and pornography as a prominent element (though, to be fair, it is not pornographic in its essence). With so many plot-lines, a few of the good ones get relegated to secondary status or disappear from the film completely for a while.

Overall, though, it's a fun film, and it succeeds where other films of its type often fail.