London Spy

Muscular writing and powerful performances.... You can get sucked in by the spycraft, but this is also a parable about queerness, and a fascinating character piece for Whishaw.

[A] gorgeously somber BBC America miniseries.

To say that Broadbent is heartbreaking and Rampling an enigmatic marvel is to state the obvious; when the plot and tone go wandering, as they do with exasperating regularity, London Spy rests almost entirely on the astonishing ability of its cast.

You may or may not struggle with the heightened, heated-up filmmaking in London Spy, which is filled with artful camera angles and non-linear time leaps, but you will likely fall under Whishaw’s spell.

Rob Smith's wildly original five-part London Spy is an emotional tour de force for rising star Ben Whishaw. [18-31 Jan 2016, p.15]

Occasional tedium sometimes makes London Spy a slog, and that's a shame because at its best moments--all of which are Whishaw moments--the show is gripping. There's a gasping desperation to Danny, and like any fully developed human, he feels original and unique, and his struggles matter because they're his. Unfortunately one of the things he's struggling against is a show that isn't 100 percent sure what to do with him.

Whishaw may keep the human story from being swamped by bad writing and worse direction, but Rampling and Broadbent are doomed.... In the end, none of it makes a great deal of sense.