VividSimon Simply Perfect

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

rusoviet Naomi Harris but it seemed the males were not vert strong personalities. It was a decent rendering then again it seemed like a contract obligation by Le Carre towards what contract he currently has with what publisher. The action wasn't the problem as much as the sub plot was bare bones.. As many have stated a fairly predictable plot. For me it was akin to 'the Night Manager' then again perhaos tis was Le Carre 'borrowing' heavily from that script to flesh out a 6 episode series for Tom Huddleston, Hugh Laurie et. al..Daniel Lewis was at his best - controlled but believable. The best rendition of a Le Carre was the old 'Tinker Tailor Solider Spy' with Alec Guiness 'because' it had the luxury of stretching out the plot over 7 episodes nearly 40 years ago (1979).

frukuk The novelty here seems to be that amateurs Professor Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris) agree to become involve in espionage because they feel it is the right thing to do.But "doing the right thing" doesn't really seem to cost them anything -- they sail through potentially lethal situations with ease. It feels like they are simply following a predetermined path and that no harm can come to them; so there's no reason to care what happens.All in all, a pretty pointless exercise.

richard-llewellyn-jones *** May contain spoilers *** I have enjoyed many of John Le Carres books but I have not read this one yet. This film was excellent. The acting was very realistic and believable and the cinema-photography was very beautifully done. The story was very realistic apart from making the Russians the bad guys, although in the UK at present that is kind of obligatory. For those clever clogs who say the plot was too simple with no twist, there is the twist staring you in the face if your eyes are not wide shut.The scenario was very realistic and very relevant today in the UK.In recent years it has become apparent that our government does not believe in democracy and that it is owned by several criminal factions. The main faction is the military industrial complex and another is the middle eastern oil kingdoms. The CIA recruited Tim Osman - alias Osama bin Laden and Al-Quaeda was and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the CIA with the goal of spreading civil war to every country in the world and thereby increasing arms sales and reducing the population everywhere. Of course you could not possibly depict that story in a movie and so the Russian's become the patsy. I found it very ironic that some of this movies reviewers said that having ordinary people caught up in an espionage thriller was unbelievable. The reality is that the Hollywood superhero Bond / Vin Diesel type action man hero and the associated stories are pure fantasy fiction and that espionage by its very nature is usually conducted by non-descript ordinary people. We know from history that University Professors make up a disproportionate number of these.I found the film very tense. I was caught up in the lives of the characters and I thought it was great that the British couple dragged into the plot were having marital difficulties. It showed that two self-centred people caught up in the miseries of their own relationship bubble could do extraordinary things and that they were both decent moral people despite obvious past mistakes. While this may not be a daringly new concept, it forms the foundation of any stable society.So the real moral of the film is that while official flashy government agencies have the guns, helicopters and muscle bound action man personnel, it is up to the flawed everyday average person to actually save the day.

socrates99 It's sad that the UK always seems to revert to dealing in dubious economics whenever its more traditional industries flounder. Elizabeth I sent out so-called privateers who were really just pirates and now the UK is hosting dirty money from all over the planet. This story has had little play in the movies probably because no one wants to stop the money train. But this movie is a refreshing attempt to rectify all that and that in itself is worth the price of admission.Just as cinema, Stellan Skarsgard, Damian Lewis and Ewan McGregor give memorable performances that treat the subject matter with the seriousness it deserves. Damian Lewis is particularly effective as the spymaster who is trying to expose corruption at the highest levels. One scene near the end where the bespectacled spymaster is home cooking made me immediately envy his gorgeous London pad, and the location shots are just something extra that you'll likely enjoy.There's plenty of action in this thriller but the best thing about it is the choice of an unusual villain the financial district in London called The City. True, the script could have used a little tuning up but it is all clear enough by the credits.