Review 614: The Courier

 

The Courier is a superbly, terrifically, tense Spy film that succeeds in large part because of an excellent performance by Benedict Cumberbatch. 

Unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) gets recruited into one the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK's M.I.6 and C.I.A operative, Emily Donovan (Rachel Borsnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet offiver Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The plot is the most remarkable true cold war stories.

Director Dominic Cooke's direction is sharp, bringing a very classical, old-fashioned style to the film.   The score by Abel Korzeniowski is beautiful, the production design (creating England and Russia in the 60's) is excellent and alive with detail, the costumes are terrific, the cinematography is  

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a brilliant performance as Greville Wynne. His introductory scene at a golf course establised everything we needed to know about him through a low angle shot of him attempting to put - an unassuming, naive bussinessman who's not quite settled on just how seriously wants to be taken as a person or even how seriously he takes himself  or worked out in life.  A classic Alfred Hitchcock-esque wrong man. But also the toll that the job has on Wynne's family life is also given emphasis

Merab Ninidze  playing Oleg Penkovsky  The friendship that forms between Penkovsky and Wynne is the beating heart of the film. Over the course of the film, Wynne begins to see Penkovsky as client who becomes a trusted friend as they start fearing secrets out of Russia.  Penkovsky becomes torn between his loyalties to his country as he's part of the Soviet Regime but also to his principal and his family.

Rachel Brosnahan

Not lagging far behind is Jessie Buckley playing Wynne's devoted wife Sheila.

Angus Wright

4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic