Download The Courier; movie review

 

THE COURIER

Cert 12A

112 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat, infrequent strong language

If you are of a certain age you will remember the Cold War during which we were told that the Russians and the Eastern Bloc were our sworn enemies.

I lived most of my childhood believing that a nuclear war was probable rather than possible and that the Communist East would be there forever.

Spies from both sides infiltrated what they perceived as enemy institutions and stories of secrets being sold were headline news.

In the early 1960s, there was a huge scandal when the Minister for War, John Profumo, had an affair with the same 19-year-old as a Soviet naval attache.

And then there was the case of Greville Wynne, a little-known salesman whose only reputation was as a hard drinker.

Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) did some business with Eastern Bloc countries just as the West saw a huge opportunity to elicit secrets from the Soviet Union.

This was precipitated by contact from a senior official,  Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), desperate to prevent nuclear war.

In Dominic Cooke's The Courier, Wynne is portrayed as a very reluctant spy who gradually warms to his task.

The film portrays the acute dangers of passing information and the threat to both men should they be caught.

The Courier is largely faithful to the truth and ratchets up the pressure nicely as the net closes in on two men who believe they are trying their best to save the world.

Meanwhile, Rachel Brosnahan plays the rather cavalier American handler who is reluctantly collaborating with a British spook (Angus Wright).

Oblivious to her husband's mission is Wynne's wife (Jessie Buckley) who is bewildered by what she perceives as his erratic and rather secretive behaviour

The Courier was a refreshing difference to spy dramas such as the Bourne franchise... building gently to its crescendo.

Cumberbatch is excellent as Wynne - a man who is forced to find bravery which has been previously untapped.

Ninidze is also completely convincing as the Soviet colonel wrestling his conscience over what others would perceive as traitorship in favour of the greater good.

Meanwhile, Cooke does a fine job of pacing this enthralling movie.

Reasons to watch: Gripping Cold war thriller

Reasons to avoid: Quite complex at times

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Oleg Gordievsky was perhaps the most influential spy of the Cold war. He was a senior KGB officer who was a double agent on behalf of Britain's MI6, providing a stream of high-grade intelligence that had an important influence on the thinking of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. He was successfully exfiltrated from Moscow in 1985.

The final word. Dominic Cooke: "I think what I really loved about [the script] was the warm heart that it’s got. It’s actually as much about the transformative nature of friendship and relationships, and the cost of espionage — the private, personal costs, which I hadn’t seen done before. " Seventh Row

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