PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

rusoviet 1. the script writer did not provide enough information of new cast members when the new cast members 'pop up'. Unless one had read the novel it makes no real sense. So many of the cast seem to be being filmed on their first read through that or the director made no real demands on what skill they 'had' to be cast to begin with.The other is the miscasting esp. of 'Jean-Francoise Mercier as played by David Tennant. He is dull, weak and completely one dimensional in his delivery.The film omitted a major part of the novel, prior to 1st Sept. 1939, where Mercier contacts German 'agents' inside Germany who take a hiking trip into the border region of Germany and Belgium/Luxemborg and document the German panzers 'measuring' the width of the forest roads in the Ardennes for the invasion of June 1940. It was a well crafted passage in the novel and a shame it was not added.It is a shame for the novel is very good but you'd never know it watching this series and sadly it doesn't bode well for future film adaptations of Furst's work

Reno Rangan BBC's television mini series about spy drama of pre world war II tension. Seen lots of lots of world war movies, but this one commence before the beginning of the war where spies from different region of Europe collide each other. So it is a cat-mouse game with many dangerous path ahead. It was a beautifully shot movie with sufficient art structure to construct curiosity in both the episodes. Definitely not like James Bond movie with lots of strong action sequences. I don't know about this book so I can't remark any differences between two. It had all the ingredients like romance, friends, betrayal, family and threats that a man as a spy who can go through in reality.It was based on the book which set in October 1937 in the capital of Poland, Warsaw. A French spy Jean Francois Mercier is assigned to look the situation on the German border. As his first report confirms something big is getting ready by the Hitler, which creates diplomatic tension between the neighboring countries especially Poland. So he hires some people to do inside jobs and that put many in danger. So constantly the locations change when characters start to explore in the cities between Warsaw, Paris and Berlin. Between all this he meets a young French woman and instantly fall in love with her. When the country near to be at war, what are their plans and how it can be executed is the rest which unfolds in an exceptional manner.It is a television series and does justice for what it has to be so if you are expecting like a Hollywood movie you will be let down. David Tennant was Amazing, one of his best performances I have seen. It was a bit slow in pace, but if you give a day gap between two episodes, it won't affect you much with the speed. You must remember it was not like todays spy movies where there is lots of equipment available to get in touch with the main office. But then it was left to that one man and he must take all the tough decision himself in the tight situations. So in my opinion, this mini series about serious issue was way better than the commercial movie which deal with the same subject. I believe it is a fine adaptation so you may try if you are interested.

AgentFalco I don't write many reviews but felt compelled after finishing watching this last night to warn others. How can such an interesting period of history be made into such an incredibly boring film. I felt no empathy for most of the characters which is ridiculous by the end I just didn't care. There was no chemistry between the two leads played by David Tennant and Janet Montgomery and Janet's character Anna in particular annoyed me and I didn't understand what Jean-Francois saw in her to make him so enamoured of her. At one point when Jean-Francois was in a deep depression because he was separated from his love I thought I was watching Twilight without the fun vampires! The only characters who felt conveyed the sadness of the war and the despair that was felt by so many as Nazi Germany began its move across the world was the old couple Viktor and Malka Rosen beautifully acted by Linda Bassett and Allan Corduner. I would only recommend to die-hard David Tennant fans.

kieran-mclaughlin1 Why do they have to tinker with a great story? Alan Furst's novel is moody, atmospheric and evocative of the period, pre-WW2 Warsaw. The BBC adaptation is lifeless and sterile. The screenwriters have tried to cherry-pick the salient parts of the novel, but all this has achieved is a confusing storyline with no sense of continuity. David Tennant is hopelessly miscast as Mercier, which in turn ensures the viewer will find the series pretty unbelievable. Janet Montgomery's portrayal of Anna Szarbek(Skarbek? Why?) is unfortunately not very likable, which in turn means their relationship suffers on the screen. Both Tennant and Montgomery have mishandled the relationship between Mercier and Szarbek, which is one of the critical drivers of Mercier's actions. A number of other characters (Jourdain, Dr Lapp) have been similarly poorly written and portrayed. Very disappointing all round. I just hope they don't try and adapt any more of Alan Furst's novels - fans of Furst's novels will be very disheartened.