Focus Features has sent another screener, this time it’s a stronger Oscar contender with some Oscar watchers feeling it could sneak into more than just one top tier category.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Genre: Thriller
Stars: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Mark Strong, Kathy Burke, Svetlana Khodchenkova
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Premise: “In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6’s echelons.”
Oscar Chances: The film’s best hope is in Best Actor where Gary Oldman may ride a wave of “overdue” sentiment to his first Oscar nomination. Winning seems unlikely at this point, but it’s still possible. The film could also appear in Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay, but only if critics and audiences voice their seal of approval.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

• Best Picture (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo)
• Best Director (Tomas Alfredson)
• Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
• Best Supporting Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Mark Strong)
• Best Supporting Actress (Kathy Burke, Svetlana Khodchenkova)
• Best Adapted Screenplay (Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan)
• Best Cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
• Best Film Editing (Dino Jonsater)
• Best Art Direction (Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald)
• Best Costume Design (Jacqueline Durran)
• Best Makeup (Felicity Bowring)
• Best Sound Editing (Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley)
• Best Sound Mixing (John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper)
• Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)

Rotten Tomatoes:
98% (44 critics; as of 12/1/11)
Metacritic:
86 out of 100 (5 critics; as of 12/1/11)