Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

To remake one of the finest BBC mini-series ever made, starring the late, ingenious Alec Guinness is an almost impossible task. The series is definitely too long by today's depressing standards, so perhaps a two-hour feature is just the treatment it needs. And you have to give it to them: They really did try.

They are very true to the aesthetics of the original. There are grainy, grey filters and men with impeccable hair and suits galore. All smoking and speaking softly, until angered. Some of the lines are identical word for word, and particularly the scene with Kathy Burke is hardly altered at all (apart from the crude opening), and neither is Guillam's encounter with The Circus.

The cast is of the greatest quality, even with a vast amount of key characters. As I shall explain, a good bunch of actors, does not necessarily make a great cast. But the problem here, is more that the director has altered a lot of the from the book and original series. But on to the men.

John Hurt is perfectly weary as Control, dying and discredited at the end of a long and distinguished career. Benedict Cumberbatch lacks the brutish tendencies as Peter Guillam, and isn't the best fit here as he comes off less than independent. Oldman is one of the finest actors of his generation, and proves is again here. Particularly his soliloquy re-enacting an old interrogation is magnificent. Firth is solid, but lacks the vast arrogance of Ian Richardson, and he doesn't have the same screen-time. Generally it feels like they've tried to modernise the male characters, depriving them of the stoic self-belief. In that though, they also deprive the film of the exceptional treat of the form of banter that's hardly been seen since the 70's: The grown men with inflated self-worth and the arrogance to go with it, banging it out in a way only men who are obsessed with manners and appearance. And that really is gone here.

As in the original, Smiley is portrayed as a ridiculously lonely and quiet man, albeit with the sharpest of brains. Director Alfredson does perhaps overdo the loneliness, though I suspect the world today is a much less subtle place. Furthermore, Alfredson keeps the slow pace of the series. But by lingering and slowing down unimportant parts of the story, he has to cut even more of the story. And what suffers most in that respect is the quiet, dignified power for struggle within The Circus, and in particular the part of Toby Esterhase who is reduced to a snivelling weasel in the film, bereft of class and ambition.

The chess-pieces are a clever trick, though not very original, and forgotten towards the middle of the film. Alfredson is guilty of a couple of shortcuts and unnecessary distractions towards the end, but nothing major. A clear mistake made is that whereas the original immediately tells us the relevance of the children's rhyme, this film leaves it until the last half-hour. And generally this is a much smarter film than average and it really is a delight seeing the puzzle slowly take form until completion. With the fantastic script from John Le Carré, it certainly is a wonderful puzzle to watch.

7/10

Calvary (2014)

A film starring Brendan Gleeson (64 years) as a priest, Father James. Now, this should be for a limited audience. With the opening line: "I first tasted semen when I was seven", it certainly demands your attention.

The scenery is quite stunning. Long Irish shores under grey weather. Huge, green pastures. All perfect background for a large priest dressed in black.

Gleeson really is fantastic here. A perfect weary  and gruff old priest, with all the signs of a man who has seen too much of most. The kind that is no longer puzzled or befuddled over the actions of his fellow men, as he drifts further and further away from them. Perfectly coined by a parishioner early on as he corrects her analogy: "You're just a little too sharp for this perish." David Wilmot is nice as the buffoonish younger priest, adding further grievance to Father James' existence as he sits alone in his white room, without a single picture or trinket (only a cross), petting his old, dying golden retriever. A visit from his suicidal daughter (aptly played by Kelly Reilly) is for a while treated in the same way as his parish: With a defensive distance.

Father James almost exclusively observes as he watches his parishioners snort cocaine in public restrooms, throw their friends across the room at the pub, urinate on expensive paintings or making jokes as he watches his church burn to the ground.

The characters are sublime, and lay a foundation of very funny conversations about most subjects, as they all have their problems to share with Father James. And as the characters slowly start to wake Father James (a particularly hilarious scene featuring Dylan Moran)

Where the film suffers a bit is a defining story-line. There are characters, very nice scenes and some brilliant humour, but a clear story (apart from the beginning and end, which are outstanding) eludes me. Therefore not all scenes seem quite relevant.

Eventually they do find his limit, for better or worse. And for a while he joins their drunken rage. In the end, despite his valiant efforts, and his indomitable sense to do what is right, the only person that seems to take him seriously is from out of town. And as they all go about their business, only the grieving stranger that met him briefly under tragic circumstances, seems to have taken a single word to heart.

So it's definitely worth a watch, for the humour and characters, but mostly for the ingenious and startling beginning and end. Not to mention a stellar performance from Gleeson.

7/10

Spectre (2015)

So a huge "Day of the Dead"-parade as an introduction... That seems done several times before. A lot of the outfits almost seem like a homage to "Live and let Die" and Kanaga. Unnecessary. Then Bond shoots two out of three bad guys (where it later in the story turns out all he really had to do was snipe the one he failed to hit), and a building miraculously falls down, before he chases the third into the crowd and onto a helicopter, eventually killing him as well. At least he got his ring (with the legendary octopussy), and we got some cool helicopter-stunts.

Ralph Fiennes was brilliant in the former instalment, as an understated aristocrat with a sharp brain and an even sharper tongue. Unfortunately they waste his first scene having him do what Judi Dench does much better: Sneering at Bond for going too far on a mission. He is better when worrying about the future under C, but he had much better dialogues to work with in previous instalments. Though his later scenes with Andrew Scott is fantastic. Harris as Moneypenny is still good, but her lines are also less scrumptious this time around. Craig David is much more soft-spoken than earlier, though I fail to see what they're trying to accomplish by that.

The political agenda with a merging of intelligence, is a cute touch, a continuance of Skyfall in Bond being outdated. Despite casting Scott as C, they fail to make it an interesting character. Perhaps because the snivelling little shit that fails to understand the importance of history as he basks in his own knowledge of the future, is done to death.

A truly marvellous scene is the Spectre-meeting. Almost bereft of sound, as one at a time speak numbers and economics, and Waltz has the softest and calmest of voices, while sitting at the unlit part of the table. Not a particularly subtle or original tweak, but still a masterpiece of a scene. Another plus to Mendes for picking Monica Bellucci for a scene, (and a night with Bond). It is so much more believable with a sensual, dangerous flirt when the female doesn't have to provide an ID to get a drink.

Mendes is better at the tension and more intimate action than he is a bigger set-pieces and Bautista vs Craig on the train is great fun. Impossible not to let the mind wander towards Robert Shaw's brilliant Grant and his fight with Connery in "From Russia with Love". And speaking of old patterns (besides Waltz' remake overcoat from Dr. No); Blofeld (like his intro) is at his best when he's lurking in the shadows. But modern Bond-films are too frenetic for that to really be effective. When he does appear, though, it is to a most devastating effect. Unfortunately, his next scene takes a sledgehammer to the credibility built.

There are so many homages and hints to earlier films (even Pleasance's scar), that it's almost distracting. As to the "Bond-formula", this is the closest Mendes came. But, some mediocre scripting and poor editing, makes it a bit lacking nonetheless. And the brother-angle towards the end is laughably bad. Mendes does know how to end a film, though, and seems to deliver again, until he cocks it up by adding another 3 unnecessary minutes that only serve against their purpose.

6/10


Best car used: Aston Martin DB10
Most memorable drink served: Vodka Martini, dirty.
Henchmen: Dave Bautista as "Hinx". Finally a real henchman again.
Villain: The one and only Blofeld, courtesy of Christoph Waltz.
Best one-liner: "They always know which buttons to press"
Song: "The Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith... The song is anonymous, his voice is atrocious. Like a chipmunk that inhales helium before every refrain.
Bond-girl: Léa Seydoux as Madeleine. Feisty at first, but not impervious to Bond's charm over more than 30 minutes