Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (film)/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Non Sequitur Scene Prideaux killing a bird.
    • Justified in the original novel, where it foreshadows how Prideaux would kill Haydon.
    • It also demonstrates how on edge Prideaux could be, how brutally violent he could be, and how unhinged he was that he didn't give a thought to how it would impact the schoolboys.
    • Also, Lacon buttering a toast really, really loudly during his meeting with Bland and Alleline.
      • This troper thought it represented his lack of respect for the spies and his impatience with having to deal with them.
  • Narrowed It Down to The Guy I Recognise: A lot of viewers guessed that the traitor is Colin Firth's character purely on the strength of him being Colin Firth.
  • Tear Jerker:Irina's fate After Prideaux is tortured and confesses to how far Controls investigation into the mole had gone, Karla drags in a beaten and tortured Irina and asks him if he knows her. Prideaux of course doesn't. Irina then smiles sweetly as if to say 'I forgive you'. Then Karla has her shot right in front of him.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Peter Hitchens' review of the film was essentially a point-by-point list of every alteration from the novel, and why each was a change for the worse.
  • Waistcoat of Style: Almost all the male characters have one. Guillam's fits him very well indeed.