I hate to say it but... the book was much better than the film (of course)! Not only that, but the first "Tinker, Tailor" film was much better too, despite John Le Carre's dislike of Sir Alec Guiness as Smiley -- and despite (because of?) the author's involvement in this production. The film suffered from PLASS (Poor Lighting And Sound Syndrome), a "technique" which pretends to give a "realistic" look to lousy production. The acting was mediocre all round and the spasmodic jumping from past(s) to present only made it difficult to follow what was never that complicated a plot in the first place. The beauty of Le Carre's writing (and I am a HUGE fan of his books) is his depiction of the characters involved in the "awful banality of evil" that is international espionage. This film glossed over the personalities of the characters and ended up coming in a distant second to the older version. It didn't stink, it just didn't smell good.
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