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Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy is something of a rare beast and Working Title are to be commended for even considering producing the thing. It's an adult spy thriller. Its a spy thriller, for adults. It's densely plotted, has extremely subtle and complex characters, it introduces you to the world of 70's British espionage and expects you to pay attention to the structure and the rules of this world and it moves at a snails pace in terms of editing (although the plot is rocketing along simultaneously with multiple characters on different levels).

Kids who like their spy movies fast (The Bourne Franchise), funny (Austin Powers), adventurous (James Bond), juvenile (Agent Cody Banks) or bullshit (Salt) won't like this at all. Meticulously constructed by Tomas Alfredson it requires the viewer to pay attention to what's going on. The relationships, the spy world, the jargon, the operations is thrown at you constantly, often without the back stories and history that make it easier for an audience to follow, making it imperative that you watch out for character's reaction, place names, past events, etc to keep on top of the labyrinthian plot. It may sound like a lot of work but if you put the effort in the narrative strands gradually combine into a wholly satisfying and cohesive tale. It reminds me of the excellent L.A. Confidential in that too was a movie with multiple characters and complex story strands which combined into a rewarding whole.

The performances are sublime too, with Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong and Colin Firth all delivering refined, top notch character work. Of course, Gary Oldman as the forcibly retired George Smiley tops them all. Here is a character who's been in the spy game, and who gives virtually nothing away, but whose inner light which emerges when his thoughts turn to his wife or his Russian counterpart (and nemesis) Karla in the merest flicker of the eyes and subtle changes in his body language.It's a great piece of work from Oldman which will, hopefully, give Oldman a well deserve Oscar nod in the new year.

Great, great stuff. They don't make stuff like this very often so savour it while you can.