Recently a new adaptation of the book has been made starring Gary Oldman and a number of other familiar faces including Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Mark Strong and a number of others.

The movie is grey in the way that only Cold War Era England can be grey.  If I were to describe it as a food it would be Pot Roast, cooked at a simmer, but richly flavorful and amplified by the ingredients of the broth.  The pacing is incredibly slow and there aren't many scenes of action.  In fact there are often long stretches without dialogue, or at least meaningful dialogue.  That being said the movie is constantly communicating.  Information is scattered throughout the movie hidden in details and sometimes reinforced with flashbacks.

The performances are all top notch and this film could easily see Oldman get that Lead Actor Oscar nod he deserves.  Perhaps there will even be a supporting role that gets a nod as well (though there aren't many meaty parts for women in this film so don't look for any nominations for the fairer sex).

A point of warning though, if you cannot bring yourself to turn off your phone and sit quietly in your seat for a movie that runs at just over two hours do not go see this movie as 1) you will not understand it because you WILL miss something important that seems insignificant at the time and 2) you will ruin the movie for others.  A better option would be for you to wait for it to come out on DVD where you could watch it, miss something important and then not understand the movie without ruining it for others.

I do enjoy good mysteries and this one definitely ranks high up there.  To say it's a spy thriller is both accurate and wrong.  It is not a thriller in the way that Bourne ultimatum is a spy thriller.  It is a spy story as an agent is brought from retirement to locate a mole that is firmly grounded in the reality of the 80's intelligence community.  This is a paper chase.

I rate this movie a 3.02 out of 3.14