Really Surprised!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Blistering performances.

This is simply an abominable adaptation of the novel. Alan Furst's books are about period atmosphere and capturing the era more than plot. This film fails in the atmosphere category completely. That being said, as a spy film it's okay but it's in no way Alan Furst. The cast is excellent, although the leads have no chemistry. The plot is interesting but drags a bit. The suspense is minimal and the film simply moves from point A to point B. There just isn't much one can say about a mini-series that is not noteworthy in any way. It really is neither boring or engaging. Not terrible for a film but for an adaptation of a specific novel, an awful failure.

I will and do watch anything with David Tennant in it as IMO he is an exceptionally gifted performer but, from the off, this telemovie bored me witless. I didn't buy most of the tension and, with few exceptions, the performances were largely uninspiring. The writing rarely grabbed me and, visually, the timing of suspenseful scenes was often poorly judged. But my main gripe was that the direction, cinematography and editing were all IMO so remorselessly pedestrian. In addition, the lead actress - who we are meant to accept as the 'romantic interest' - appeared to be not just uninvolved with her lover but I personally doubted she was even a serious actress within the meaning of the Act! I gather she has won deserved success in other projects that I haven't seen, but in 'Spies'? Not for this viewer. Tennant looks, sounds and is lovely and could not act badly if he tried conscientiously for a year but, really, even his illustrious talent and legendary energy could not save his character for me in this movie. Especially not when he's obliged to wear some of the silliest military uniforms you could find outside of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Possibly the window of opportunity to create incisive TV drama about mid 20thC spy stories has slammed shut for the time being. I bought the DVD and have watched it just once and won't do so again. Probably.

Sorry, lots of whining about how slow the pace of the series is. If you have read the source novels you should know that Alan Furst takes his time. They're all about mood, and ambiguity, shadows, and wheels within wheels. I think the series, while not great, catches, visually, a lot of Furst's writing, and ambiguity. If you are expecting Skyfall, don't bother. If you are willing to let the thing roll at it's own pace, it is well done. My review is generally positive despite BBC America's decision to do the thing in four parts in On Demand, with an endless series of exceptionally low rent commercials that break the mood considerably.

I use the word "disappointing" to be polite. I love spy novels etc, but this was pathetic. I did stay for 30 minutes to give it a chance. Tieing up an 18 year old German soldier to a tree right after you are discovered spying on the new German 'super' tank. Get real. I know something of history and even though this was fiction, it was bad fiction. I couldn't tell what country the main character was from until 30 minutes into the program. Even at this point, I don't remember his name. David Tennant is a great actor. I've seen his "Hamlet". What possessed him to take this role is beyond me. Let's just say, I changed the channel to watch PBS. They had a program on called 'Nature'. The subject was plants talking to each other.