TheRetroCritic

Olivia de Havilland loses it and we sit and watch as she attempts to regain some shred of her sanity and hopefully leave her confinement to be reunited with her husband. The reasons behind her nervous breakdown are revealed little by little and although the feel of the film is, at times, very Hitchcockian, the way the subject-matter is handled makes  Spellbound  look like a 5 year-old child's perception of psychoanalysis rather than a legitimate take on it. De Havilland's performance in this is one of the most complex, unpredictable and powerful I've seen in a long time and, again, makes Gregory Peck's performance in Spellbound look even poorer than it already is in comparison. She earned a well deserved Oscar nomination and so did the film. The Snake Pit is very dark and doesn't sugar-coat much, with some scenes actually quite hard to watch and pretty daring for 1948. As larger than life as some of the characters may be, this is far more subtle and honest than

Spy movies have been done and redone in millions of different ways. Johnny English Reborn is out soon but for those looking for something a little more substantial and a little less...2003 there's always this little number. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy may not boast Mr Bean hijinx but with a first class British cast it should peak the interest of most regardless. So far the critics have been unanimously dreamy but does Thomas Alfredson's film really adds more to John Le Carré's tale than the BBC mini series? Hard to say. Yes the running time is obviously condensed but that turns out to be both a bit of a blessing and a bit of a curse. At a bit more than two hours, the film feels about three hours long. And the ending, although it doesn't really feel rushed, lacks the punch it could have had if we'd been given a bit more time to care for these great characters. Great characters which are played to perfection by the way. This is a great cast and no one puts a