Film review: Benedict Cumberbatch is an amateur spy during the Cold War in 'The Courier'
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as an everyday Brit thrown into the cloak-and-dagger spy game at the height of the Cold War in the thriller 'The Courier' (in theaters nationwide March 19).
In short: Set during the 1960s Cold War, unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) is recruited by British and American intelligence to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also stars Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan and Jessie Buckley.
'The Courier' works because it immediately establishes the incredibly dangerous stakes in play for Wynne and that he's simultaneously the best and least likely man for the job. Cumberbatch is well-cast as the dutiful, self-professed 'amateur' spy thrown into the deep end of a spy game with the highest risks possible. He's genially charming without coming off as a polished spy - and its Wynne's everyday man traits that power 'The Courier.'
Because this docudrama is based on the true story of Greville Wynne and his Russian contact, Soviet intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze), 'The Courier' is less of an action spy-thriller and more of a drama chronicling the toll espionage takes on Wynne and Penkovsky's lives. Their actual spy work takes up a very small percentage of the film, instead, the movie invests in the stress and emotional rigor espionage wears on Wynne's life as a husband and father. And like all good films based on true stories, 'The Courier' illuminate the once top secret efforts of two ordinary men and how their bravery reshaped the Cold War.
The script beautifully weaves together Wynne's three main relationships key to his character arch - his friendship with Penkovsky, his sense of duty with his MI-6 and CIA handlers (Angus Wright and Brosnahan) and his family life with his wife (Buckley). And because the sentiment cannot be repeated often enough: one of the great storytelling pillars is that of identity. 'The Courier' finds Wynne simply as a happy family man and affable businessman at the outset, only for Wynne to increasingly deceive his loved ones about his espionage, with the stress forming cracks between himself and his family. While the danger to Wynne's life is everpresent, what makes 'The Courier' truly compelling is the internal conflict between Wynne's sense of patriotic duty, the love for his family and his unlikely and genuine camaraderie with a Soviet officer.
Final verdict: Spy genre aficionados will appreciate the grounded, realistic aspects of this docudrama that finally puts a spotlight on two men's heroism with the world on the brink of nuclear war.
Score: 4/5
'The Courier' is in theaters March 19. This Cold War drama is rated PG-13 for violence, partial nudity, brief strong language, and smoking throughout and has a running time of 111 minutes.
