I’ve now reviewed the original (audio)book as well as radio, tv, and film adaptations! Wondering if there are more adaptations worth looking at.

This movie isn’t bad, but I found myself disappointed with it. I don’t know if you can trim the story down to two hours (though now I’m wondering what the radio play comes out to), and while I try not to grump about adaptations, I’ve got a list of decisions I didn’t agree with here.

Some are dumb: It turns out I have preferences for how Oliver Lacon should be cast, and I didn’t like this one. The tv miniseries’s Lacon is smarmy and posh in a way that makes sense to me, and thay’s not what I got here.

Others are more substantive: I really think Ricki Tarr’s flashback has to come at the beginning to get George into the game. Tarr calling Lacon from a payphone to mutter something about a mole doesn’t seem like enough to me to set the plot in motion.

I dunno, I’m glad I watched it, but I think the radio adaptation is my favorite at this point.

• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy