Spies and Virgins

[alobear]

We went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night, and it was excellent.  I hadn't intended to go and see it but I'm very glad I did.  The best word I can think of to describe it is understated - perhaps a little too much so at times, but generally to great effect.  It's a film that requires both patience and concentration (more than a few people walked out in the first hour and I could understand why, even though I did not have the desire to join them), but it rewards both.  It's not exactly jolly, but it's very absorbing once you give yourself over to it, and it has the best cast I've seen in one place in a very long time.  Actors I've very much admired for a long time (John Hurt, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Toby Jones) were joined by several I've developed respect for only recently (Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch), and it was great to see them all bringing their best performances to do justice to a very good script.  I was particularly glad to see Mark Strong getting his teeth into an excellent part, as I've previously mostly seen him being really good in pretty bad films.


This week's DVD rental was The Virgin Suicides, which wasn't lacking in interest, but did leave me a little bewildered as to its purpose.  Reading the Empire review suggests that it wasn't really supposed to have a point, but I didn't think the style was distinctive enough to get past the lack of substance.  It all just seemed a bit dreary to me by the end - the "shocking denouement" hardly living up to its hype, since it's clear from the beginning where things are heading.  Still, the young cast did a good job all round, and it was interesting to see familiar faces from later in life (Kirsten Dunst, A J Cook, Josh Hartnett) in earlier incarnations.