There is also a juxtaposition on how both men have to hide aspects of what they are doing to their wives. The connection with Oleg that this work hinges on also develops as they traveled together, meet each other’s families (there’s a fairly strong scene where Greville’s young child has questions about why Russia hates the West), and even bond over attending ballet productions such as Swan Lake.īarring cuts to a number of scenes inside offices with other characters, that’s mostly what works about The Courier. It’s rarely made clear the details of what is being transported back to the West, and for the most part, it’s not that important because the idea here is to explore that mounting pressure and suspense as, Greville, who initially is not even made aware that his service is about preventing nuclear war until Rachel Brosnahan’s Emily uses a combination of persuasion and manipulation to keep him committed to the cause, fronts as an apolitical businessman that only cares about the almighty dollar. The Courier director Dominic Cooke is certainly aware that the actual espionage going on during the Cold War was not exactly exciting in terms of spectacle (unless you are Hideo Kojima rewriting the shit out of history with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater) meaning that the stressful toll such undercover work takes on the characters has to come first.īenedict Cumberbatch is also a reliable biopic presence ( The Imitation Game remains his best performance although he is good here when the script from Tom O’Connor is matching his abilities, which is not much and unsurprising coming from the writer of The Hitman’s Bodyguard), as the bulk of the narrative focuses on businessman Greville Wynne being recruited by MI6 operatives (Rachel Brosnahan and Angus Wright, both of whom are somewhat wasted) as the perfect plant for traveling back and forth to Moscow interacting with secret KGB traitor Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze, rising to the level of co-star despite the screenplay eventually letting him down) obtaining intelligence that comes to be related to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, Angus Wright, Kirill Pirogov, Iva Šindelková, James Schofield, Anton Lesser, Keir Hills, and Vladimir Chuprikov.Ĭold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The courier 2021