It is clear to me that Deighton could not have accepted such a serious miscasting for Bernard Samson by the otherwise excellent actor Ian Holm. The character is supposed to be at least six feet tall, around 13 stones in weight and in his early forties. Holm is so out of place in that regard that he rivals the miscasting of Tom Cruise as the Jack Reacher character. No doubt there will be those who claim that such physical disparity between the character and the performer is irrelevant. However, it is fundamental in this case. It appears to be a given that producers and directors are happy to play with central components of novels in their conversion to on screen versions. We saw this with the otherwise entertaining new version of Tinker, Tailor, but it is completely unnecessary and is usually damaging to the end result.
Review of Game, Set, and Match
Game, Set, and Match
(1988– )
A botched production through the awful miscasting of the protagonist
26 September 2016