The_Deputy

Usually movies are worse than their trailers. This movie was unusual in that it was better than its trailer.

The movie was well-written, with a good plot and good characters. It is very well edited.

Richard Gere is very good in this, he's better in this than he was in the Cotton Club (which I liked) and other movies he's been in.

In addition to the plot, there's a theme through the movie where you see how the Gere character lives his life, and compare it to how people like the Nate Parker character live their life. There's a small plot twist or two, but this is what really makes the story. That the theme is alluded to but not completely spelled out I like, the audience's intelligence is respected.

The only problem with the film is there were a too many unnecessary characters, particularly among the lawyers and employees who worked for the Gere character. Particularly all the lawyers. There was also too much going on with the details of the various financial shenanigans the Gere character was involved in. Like when Gere's flunky came out to his limousine. That should have been trimmed some, or crafted differently.

I realize a two hour movie has to cut things out that a mini-series running five hours can leave in. However, it seems the heart of the mini-series was cut out. In the end, this is a suspense story - who was the spy (or spies)? In the mini-series, we are early on introduced to Alleline, Haydon, Bland and Esterhase, particularly in flashbacks when Smiley approaches them individually, at Control's request. We can also see motives for spying - Esterhase is a foreigner, and unmotivated by British patriotism, Haydon is a fop, Bland is working class with a left-wing background, Alleline has characteristics which would bring to mind Kim Philby. This is gone in the movie, we're barely introduced to the suspected spies, and have no ideas what the motives are.

Then at the end of the movie, when it is revealed, we still don't really get an idea what the motivation for spying was, like we get in the mini-series. The entire Cold War context of this is drained. There was a real Cambridge Five in England, five men from the best families who went to the best schools, yet chose loyalty to the Comintern and the USSR over England. Fiction pieces like this are partially an exploration on what the motivations of such men would be, yet this is completely missing in the film. Absent the suspense, and the character motivations, the movie is rather empty. If they had switched around who the spy was in the movie, would it have made any difference? The answer is no, and that's the failing of this movie, ultimately there's about as much suspense as what card might get picked out of a deck - the answer is drained of all meaning.

I think James Woods is a good actor, I liked Oliver Stone's later movies like Platoon, JFK and Wall Street, and I'm sympathetic towards the Salvadoran workers, whom my government unfortunately assisted in doing terrible things to. But this is just not a well made movie. I suspect a lot of the ratings are due to people agreeing with the message of the movie. I agree with the message, but the artistry is off here.

One thing really off is the mood. I think of Costas Gavras's Z or State of Siege or Missing - those movies had a consistent mood throughout that worked well with the material. Then compare them to this.