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Benedict Cumberbatch makes for a good bore.
Its the kind of role for which an extraordinary, unpredictable actor just will not do.
A Daniel Day-Lewis or a Gary Oldman would be completely lost in the part.
You need a great actor who can nevertheless exude conventionality.
Cooke and screenwriter Tom OConnor even give Greville and Olegs relationship the subtle aura of a clandestine romance.
I wish I could tell you how much this means.
This notion of the espionage connection as a kind of love affair is not a cheap or meaningless one.
(Its also not new; this is prime John le Carre territory.)
One becomes the key to the other, which makes every turn in their friendship that much more tense.
Early in the film, Oleg takes Greville to the ballet.
