15 Mar The Courier Review

THE COURIER

dir. Dominic Cooke, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachael Brosnahan, and Jessie Buckley

The Courier tells the true story of the British businessman who helped MI6 penetrate the Soviet nuclear program during the Cold War. Wynne and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky (codenamed Ironbark), provided crucial intelligence that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Courier is the true story Greville Wynne, businessman-turned-spy during the height of the American/Russian Cold War, a period that is ripe for tales of espionage, lies, and deceit. Recruited in a joint mission by the American CIA and British MI6, Wynne makes contact with Oleg Penkovsky, a high ranking GRU officer, working to provide information on the USSR’s nuclear program as the clock ticked closer to what became one of the most anxious and nerve wracking times in American history.

Yet again, Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a solid performance as Greville Wynne: delightfully charming in the first act, and, as events start to unfold, increasingly somber. The desperation with which he plays the character lends credence to the tense nature of the film as he fights to save his friend. Opposite Cumberbatch is Meran Ninidze as Oleg Penkovsky, a pensive man motivated by the ratcheting tensions between the nations. Ninidze brings warmth and humanity to the role; instantly likeable and quickly winning the audience to his cause. Accompanying Wynne as the moral compass of the story is Rachel Brosnahan’s Emily Donovan, the CIA agent tasked with assisting the British in the operation. Both Brosnahan and Cumberbatch’s earnestness is on full display as they deliver monologues about the ethical choices and the right thing to do. Counterbalancing this is Angus Wright as MI6 representative Dickie Franks: always calm, collected, level headed and outstandingly British. Wright and Brosnahan’s chemistry as two sides fighting for the same thing in different ways plays well as the film unravels from risky bet to sure loss. Jessie Buckley shines in her performance as well as the beleaguered wife of Greville Wynne. With minimal screen time, she still manages to be a presence in the film as an understandably confused woman unaware of her husband’s activities.

Helmed by bourgeoning director Dominic Cooke, The Courier’s main issues lies in its first act. While the acting and directing are on par, the pacing of the first 30 minutes halts the film to a crawl as the table is set and stakes are introduced. Once that hump is passed, the film takes off, intercutting between multiple plot points, each being handled deftly as Wynne is forced to juggle his relationship with his ever-growing-distant wife, as well as his duties to Penkovsky. Thanks to tight editing from Gareth C. Scales, the story flows well as the plans, counterplans, and reveals start to unfold.

Overall, The Courier is an entertaining entry in the spy genre. While not action packed like Bond films, nor as cerebral as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (another espionage film that features Cumberbatch), The Courier lies somewhere in between. It’s slow first act leaves the movie in danger of losing viewers, but once the second act hits, the story becomes more tense, more engaging, and more tightly focused. Strong performances from Cumberbatch, Brosnahan, Buckley, and Ninidze give the characters depth and purpose, making for a taught thriller that can be appreciated by fans of the genre. The Courier will be released in theaters March 19th.