Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I remember the stunts in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, probably because there aren’t any. As espionage flicks go, this one is really low-key. It gets that somber streak from its protagonist, semi-retired MI6 officer George Smiley (Gary Oldman), who is investigating a Soviet plot to infiltrate British intelligence. The “action,” such as it is, comes from watching Oldman’s mind work out all the details, and then watching the other agents under his magnifying glass start to squirm. Oldman is utterly fantastic here, never forcing so much as a syllable or a raised eyebrow. The rest of the cast—uniformly good but reduced to small speaking parts in comparison to Oldman—are almost at his mercy. Which is kind of the point. Bonus points for making a Julio Iglesias cover of Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea” work far better than it probably does on its own.