REVIEW: THE COURIER

Producer-Adam Ackland and Benedict Cumberbatch

Director-Dominic Cooke

Star Cast- Benedict Cumberbatch, Angus Wrght, Anton Lesser, Merab Ninidze, Vladimir Chuprikov and Rachel Brosnahan

Genre- Period

Rating- ***

Makes you wallow in Nostalgia!

Jyothi Venkatesh

The film sets out to depict the true story of a British businessman who unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history.

Forming an unlikely partnership with a Soviet OFFICER hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence which is used deftly to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The film is based on the true story of Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), an ordinary businessman who was used as a courier between the MI6 and CIA and a Russian mole Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) during the Cold War.

When he’s recruited by CIA agent Emily (Rachel Brosnahan), he begins to work with Russian colonel Oleg Penkovsky, a spy under the codename Ironbark, and a friendship blossoms between the two while keeping up appearances.

This camaraderie is put to the test when Wynne tries to help Penkovsky defect from the Soviet and sadly ends up getting imprisoned in the bargain.

As far as performances go, I should say that Benedict Cumberbatch commits to the inspiring lead role with his magnetic as well as commanding presence.

Ninidze takes a restrained approach but displays more range in the process. Jessie Buckley’s role as Greville’s wife is just about average.

Though Rachel Brosnahan plays a fictional character Emily, she succeeds in adding many layers and extra dimensions to the CIA agent

On the whole, I’d say that The Courier is worth watching at least once, if not for the story of Merab Ninidze and Benedict Cumberbatch, and how the two almost went into history not knowing they had saved a disaster, but for the acting of Ninidze and Cumberbatch (and Buckley as Wynne’s wife), and for a few quiet evenings in the alleyways of Moscow where heroes shine without gunshots and car chases.

In short, to sum up, the film “The Courier” will evoke memories of prior spy movies and the kind of tropes they often employ.

More specifically, you may be reminded of the superior Cold War-era spy-swapping 2015 film, Bridge of Spies.

Both films are based on real events and have Russian spies, imprisoned agents, and a swap between Russia and the West, though in this case, the swap is not an integral part of the main story, and also the Russian spy is working for MI6 and the CIA.

The credit for the moody cinematography for the film ought to be given to Sean Bobbitt and the engaging score to Abel Korzeniowski.

Their work gave the illusion that this film could have been made in the timeframe it is set. The film The Courier is recommended for making you wallow in nostalgia