Philip Martin Brown Movies

Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson takes the helm for this adaptation of John Le Carré's novel about an ex-British agent who emerges from retirement to expose a mole in MI6. England, 1973: British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) head Control (John Hurt) and his top-ranking lieutenant George Smiley (Gary Oldman) are both forced into retirement after a mission involving respected secret agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) turns unexpectedly deadly. As the Cold War continues to escalate, suspicions of a Soviet double agent begin to grow within SIS. Subsequently summoned by Undersecretary Oliver Lacon (Simon McBurney), Smiley is secretly reemployed by the SIS in order to root out the double agent suspected of sharing top-secret British intelligence with the Soviets. Meanwhile, as Smiley and his new partner Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) begin systematically examining all of the official missions and records involving MI6, the veteran spy can't help but recall an encounter he once had with Karla, a dangerous Russian operative, years prior. At first, uncovering the identity of the infiltrator seems nearly impossible. Smiley and Guillam get a big break, however, when undercover agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) reveals that he has fallen for a mysterious woman in Turkey named Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who may have a crucial lead. Later, upon learning that Control had comprised a list of five possible suspects, code-named Tinker (Toby Jones), Tailor (Colin Firth), Soldier (Ciarán Hinds), Poor Man (David Dencik), and Beggar Man -- none other than Smiley himself -- the investigation begins to heat up again. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This spy outing hones in on secret agent Magnus Pym (Peter Egan). Having impersonated so many different people during his career as a British spy, Pym eventually lost track of who he really was -- a confusion compounded by the fact that he knew nothing of his actual past. Ultimately feeling that he could trust no one -- not even his so-called friends -- Pym turned his back on the British and began trading secrets with the Enemy. Filmed on location in England, Europe, and the U.S., the seven-episode A Perfect Spy originally aired in the U.K. in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This fourth film dramatization of the 1789 mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty is based not on the familiar Nordhoff and Hall book, but on Richard Hough's novel Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian. This time, the infamous Captain Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) is as strict a disciplinarian as ever. He is, however, no monster; faced with his crew's increasing laxity after an idyllic visit to Tahiti (the search for breadfruit takes second place to limitless sex with the island girls), Bligh is forced to resort to flogging and other such means to keep his men in line. Mr. Christian (Mel Gibson), formerly Bligh's friend, is of little use to the captain, having fallen in love with a native girl himself. Christian becomes the leader of the mutiny virtually in spite of himself; and when the mutineers try to seek refuge on Tahiti, they find that the local chief wants no part of them, which is why they settle for the nearly uninhabitable Pitcairn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having already been seen spying for the Nazis in 1979's The Eagle Has Landed, Donald Sutherland once more infiltrates wartime England on behalf of Der Fuhrer in Eye of the Needle. Willing to kill even the most innocent of bystanders to complete his task, Sutherland manages to remain in Britain until the eve of D-Day in 1944. Discovering that the invasion is to take place on Normandy, Sutherland scurries to rendezvous with a U-boat off the treacherous Isle of Storms. His mission is thwarted by Kate Nelligan, the frustrated wife of paralyzed RAF commander Christopher Cazenove. Though having fallen in love with Sutherland, Nelligan nonetheless prepares to turn the man in when he kills her husband. Tension mounts in the closing scene as Sutherland races against time to (a) make contact with the U-boat and (b) stop Nelligan before she blows the whistle on him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi