This film is so unlike anything I've seen Hollywood churn out recently that I was genuinely staggered. You have to concentrate. Hard. For the entire film. Alfredson gives you no easy routes, and you find yourself crossing your eyes in frustration. Is this a flashback? Is this guy dead? What's happening here? And yet despite how much effort you have to put in, the atmospheric approach makes it seem worth it. A malevolent, dreary London; a secret service turned corrupt bureaucracy. There are no James Bonds here, no glamour. Just paranoia, creeping cynicism, overwhelming nostalgia. Oldman's turn as Smiley is note perfect. Betrayed personally and professionally, doggedly pursuing the truth.

Go in with your thinking hat on. It's worth it.

A lot of people find this movie boring, but I really dig it. I dug it on my first watch and I dig it even more on my second. Maybe it's because of the cast. Maybe it's because I like slow building, suspenseful, dialogue driven films. Maybe it's because I find the story so interesting, but I was never bored for one second. I find it all fascinating. It's very well made. The atmosphere is spot on for the times of the Cold War. It's like you feel the paranoia and panic in the air. The acting is outstanding. The story is layered well enough to keep you guessing and keeps you coming back for more, at least for me. It's kinda like watching someone craft an intricate puzzle from scratch for the first time and then you spend the second time wondering just how the hell he did that. I love stuff like that and I love this film.

Very slow pace, hard to follow, it put me off. It was difficult to capture my attention in some scenes. Talented cast, performances were fine. I really wanted to like it more, but the pacing is just absolutely painful.

Fighting oppression
For freedom of repression.
Party never ends.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a film filled with fine acting, suspense, great direction, but a bit confusing at times. Although my first viewing of the film, I had a hard time trying to understand the whole film, I liked it a lot more when understood that it was the whole point of the film is that it is a puzzle. A lot of the value comes to its acting from Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy as they portray their characters with true emotion. The film's other value comes from director Thomas Alfredson's suspenseful direction. I give the film 4/5 stars.

"The Spy Who Knew Too Much" is not an easy film, but the real anti-007 has an advantage worthy in its complexity and in its non-linear script: in no time he tries to explain. So do not worry if the final answers seem so nebulous as the aesthetics of the film.

That cast!

Gary Oldman is great and heads a great ensemble in this spy drama.

Ugh. Never been so bored in my life.

Sometimes when I'm taking a shit I still stare aimlessly at the wall thinking this is much better than watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy..

Definitely not used to the pacing on this, but dialogue-driven spy thrillers are definitely just as good as action-driven spy thrillers.

Tinker Tailor puts the "low" in "low-key." Still, this dry spy drama -- which takes place in the 70s and feels like a movie that just as easily could have been made in that decade -- leaves its mark thanks to a hugely impressive cast. Hell, I'd be fine watching Gary Oldman just sit in a room with Benedict Cumberbatch, regaling him with old spy tales for hours at a time.