Contender: 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'

'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' Browse the reviewThe name's Smiley, George Smiley -- and he's the alternative of 007 in virtually every way: A tired old bureaucrat, cuckolded by his wife and ignored from his top-ranking intelligence job, but, on his shoulders rides all hope of determining the Soviet mole inside MI6.Gary Oldman wonderfully underplays charge role within this elegant, thinking man's spy movie -- a lengthy-shot picture contender -- as director Tomas Alfredson ("Let the correct one In") takes his signal in the John Le Carre novel: Rather than showing sexy, save-the-world shenanigans unfolding over martinis and games of baccarat, "Mess, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" finds its intrigue happening between crusty old bureaucrats buying and selling secrets in stuffy parlor rooms -- a indication that espionage is government work, in the end.What required the 1979 BBC miniseries a lot more than five hrs to speak, this dense yet remarkably dialogue-light adaptation does in only over two (a credit to scribes Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan), with critical the help of an aspiration team of Brit thesps, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Sturdy, John Hurt and Mark Strong -- some of whom could nab a supporting jerk, if Focus helps voters choose which someone to fall behind.Launch date: 12 ,. 9 FocusRead the range review Contact Peter Debruge at peter.debruge@variety.com