Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
78%RT Audience Score: 65%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 3 Oscars
35 wins & 100 nominations total
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a dense puzzle of anxiety, paranoia, and espionage that director Tomas Alfredson pieces together with utmost skill
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is like a game of Clue, but instead of figuring out who killed Mr. Boddy, you’re trying to uncover a Soviet spy in the British intelligence agency. Gary Oldman’s performance is so good, you’ll feel like you’re watching a wise old owl solve a mystery. The film is slow-paced, but that’s what makes it so absorbing. It’s like a cozy mystery novel, but with spies instead of amateur sleuths. Plus, the cast is a who’s who of British actors, so you’ll have fun playing “spot the celebrity.” Overall, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a must-watch for fans of espionage and mystery.
Production Company(ies)
Participant First Look Media, Anonymous Content
Distributor
Focus Features
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Istanbul, Turkey
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for violence, some sexuality/nudity and language
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Datasat Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 7m
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Language(s):English, Russian, Hungarian, French, Turkish
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 6, 2012 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 20, 2012
Genre(s)
Mystery & Thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Simon McBurney, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, directed by Tomas Alfredson, written by Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan, mystery, thriller, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kevin Maher, Deborah Ross, David Thomson, Donald Clarke, Sara Michelle Fetters, Connie Ogle, MPAA rating R, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo
Worldwide gross: $81,515,369
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $105,091,605
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 988
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,460,371
US/Canada gross: $24,149,393
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,133,987
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,262
US/Canada opening weekend: $310,562
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $400,384
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,457
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): £20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Kathy Burke – Connie Sachs
Benedict Cumberbatch – Peter Guillam
David Dencik – Toby Esterhase
Colin Firth – Bill Haydon
Stephen Graham – Jerry Westerby
Director – Tomas Alfredson
Producers – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo
Writers – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
Director(s)
Tomas Alfredson
Writer(s)
Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
Producer(s)
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
35 wins & 100 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (232) | Top Critics (68) | Fresh (194) | Rotten (38)
Sublime.
December 3, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
So beautifully executed and so visually absorbing and so atmospherically hypnotic that I wonder this: would it have been awfully greedy to have hoped to have wholly understood it, too?
August 31, 2018
Deborah Ross
The Spectator
TOP CRITIC
The movie is riveting in the exact sense of the word: We feel nailed to the screen in the impossible task of working out what is going on-let alone why it matters.
June 20, 2013
David Thomson
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy can assert a serious claim to be the best espionage film ever made.
March 19, 2012 | Rating: 5/5
Donald Clarke
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
It begins and ends with Oldman. This is a superlative performance, the renowned actor perched on his chair like a wise old owl overseeing his domain.
January 27, 2012 | Rating: 3.5/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
A deliberate, cerebral, grim and utterly absorbing film that makes covert operations appear as unsexy as the Bourne films made them seem fast-paced and thrilling.
January 6, 2012 | Rating: 3/4
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
What the film does so well is allow the audience to experience the lonely and isolated world these men (and women) were forced to exist in. It also establishes that great sense of paranoia that pervaded the time.
April 19, 2022 | Rating: B-
Frank J. Avella
Edge Media Network
The material concerning the identity of the spy proves to be the least compelling part of the picture. What makes the movie cling to our senses are the soulful transgressions of other key characters.
April 9, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Tinker Tailor is probably the best film of 2011. If only we had seen it at the time.
December 26, 2021 | Rating: A
Kent Garrison
Mad About Movies Podcast
The cast is astounding, amassing a record assortment of popular British actors.
November 30, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
A fine directorial achievement indeed.
September 26, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
A slow burn, fraught with intrigue, tension, and personal and professional betrayal.
July 11, 2020 | Rating: B-
Brent McKnight
The Last Thing I See…
Plot
In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control (Sir John Hurt), resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian Agent, a mole, and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by rogue Agent Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet Intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises Gary Oldman’s “superlative performance” as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
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