The Courier Review: Do not underestimate the power of a common businessman

Director: Dominic Cooke

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Merab Ninidze, Angus Wright, 

Producer: Adam Ackland, Rory Aitken

Written by: Tom O'Connor

Where to watch The Courier: Releases in theatres on March 19, 2021

The Courier Review:

It does not take long for the movie to get to Benedict Cumberbatch, and the point of the film – a businessman recruited by MI6 to steal intelligence from the Soviets, in accordance with Oleg Penkovsky – a prized recruit of the West. The first half hour of the movie is basically the entire trailer, with his trademark bassy baritone recognizable even in one’s sleep. If you expect this to be a regular spy movie with the usual drill of action, typical smart-alec dialogues and loud music-induced intrigue, prepare to be surprised, pleasantly.

• Image: A still from the film

Is The Courier based on a true story?

Based on true events, Greville Wynne, played by Benedict Cumberbatch is an average capitalist businessman whose travels to Eastern Europe for business catch the attention of MI6. Rachel Brosnahan’s Emily Donovan is a chic, powerful CIA agent working in tandem with Dickie Frank of the British Secret Service, played by Angus Wright to get more data from the Soviets during the Cold War. As Cumberbatch is introduced to be ‘blatantly sucking up’ to his clients to get more business, Frank and Donovan get a hold of him and ask him to spy for them, traveling to Moscow as nothing more than a tradesperson.

The tie-clip brotherhood

Oleg Penkovsky played by Merab Ninidze is introduced right at the beginning to be the mole. The Soviet military intelligence colonel is trying desperately to save the world on the brink of nuclear war. Wynne joins the espionage operation after a scene or two of being reluctantly convinced to do the job until Donovan uses the forbidden, dreaded N-word of the era, leaving Wynne with a motive to prevent UK from a nuclear attack. He’s given a tie-clip that only Penkovsky can identify, and thus the tie-clip brotherhood of two begin working with their motives, modus operandi and alibis air-tight.

• Image: A still from the film

If you think that spying was easier in an era with no CCTV cameras, recorders and modern technology, you could not be more wrong. While the Black Mirror realization works perfectly well for the contemporary counterspy, the movie spells out the spying techniques of the Cold War era – anyone can be a lip reader, assume everyone is KGB, and every single person’s eyes are the eyes of the state. The movie’s pace quickens as Cumberbatch’s Wynne finds his way through the Russian business elites, blends within the community with his ‘one true gift’ of the impressive amount of alcohol he can hold. The miniature cameras, unsuspecting hiding places and the simplicity of a tradesman delivering top-secret information disguised as regular packages remains to-date one of the most successful operations to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Image: A still from the film

Every flinch, every grimace, every scowl, every move of the brow, every drop of sweat and even the stiff upper lip is captured on frame well. With one too many close-ups of Cumberbatch’s face, one may find a shadow of Sherlock flickering in his icy-grey eyes even if for just a second. Cumberbatch becomes Wynne himself after his bond with Penkovsky begins to run deeper than just a spy – the tie-clip brotherhood manages to get thousands of documents from the Soviet Union to the Secret Service and CIA, who nudge Wynne through choppy waters but remain passive in appreciating his capabilities.

Perhaps a soldier’s dream has been romanticized enough through poems and songs, but an ode to the spy’s can be seen in the film. Penkovsky’s decisive mention of living in Montana as a cowboy only brings the plot to a point where one hopes in futility that he gets through this. While the movie remains solely Cumberbatch-driven, Ninidze’s Penkovsky as a loving family man and a pensive, slick spy is nothing short of perfection. One can feel one’s pulse rise as he navigates through his safe escape plan with family, rooting for the tie-clip brotherhood’s peaceful exit from the chaos.

The Courier cast exceeds expectation 

Jessie Buckley plays Sheila Wynne in the historical drama – the pearl-adorning proud wife of Greville Wynne with a spine of steel. Rachel Brosnahan’s character’s look is a slight reminder of Dana Scully, if she lived in the Cold War era, and perhaps would be as somber and successful as Rachel’s Emily Donovan. As the film’s crescendo rises rather sharply in the last fifteen minutes after most of the film running in a smooth flow, the ladies shoulder their roles with such finesse and strength that grants Cumberbatch’s Wynne his as he survives torture in jail.

• Image: A still from the film

The banter between Sheila and Greville towards the end is gut wrenching, as if the entirety of emotions of the film was meant to be packed in that one scene, where they do not touch, but she lets him in on a piece of information that makes his and Penkovksy’s sacrifices meaningful.

The spy who came in from the cold

The Dominic Cooke directorial has a neat and a fitting ode to the peace-loving spies who affected the world in a way most wish to. As mentioned in the credits of the film, Penkovsky was one of the most useful resources with more than 5000 documents, and Ninidze’s portrayal makes it a gut-wrenching farewell of as death-knell begins to ring for him.   Smooth and easy cinematography, simple and effective storytelling talking about the stakes the lives of spies – it is as beautiful as its visuals.

The movie’s last scene is not just Benedict’s trauma-relieved face braving the press, but the real Wynne talking to the media about how he wishes to be ‘back to business as usual and the knot in your stomach easing that one of the two who changed the world made it back home safe. The sheer strength required to face something as gruesome as Wynne did, not anyone but Benedict could have brought the man to life.

Rating : 4/5

Watch the trailer of Benedict Cumberbatch's movie here:

Images: Stills from movies / PR