20s Movie Review - The Courier

Director: Dominic Cooke
Genre: Drama/ Mystery
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley

Description: Businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) is asked by a Russian source to try help put an and to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 27: A FILM ABOUT A HISTORICAL EVENT
 
Review: Soviet Colonel Oleg Penkovsky is a true nationalist. But when he sees the plans of party leader Khruschev, he can no longer remain silent. Penkovsky manages to smuggle a message into the American embassy: he wants to defect. In cooperation with the British secret service MI6, a plan is hatched to have a businessman contact his high-raking mole in Moscow. Completely inexperienced, Greville Wynne, is sent on a business mission. And before he knows it, he is smuggling secret information from Penkovsky to London on a regular basis.

The titulat courier Greville Wynne is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. Always a solid actor, and no different in “The Courier”. The film itself is also a rock-solid historical drama. The film never really excels, but there is certainly nothing bad about it. In fact, the story is incredibly compelling, and anyone with an interest in the Cold War cannot deny that this is a fine addition to the rich repertoire of spy stories about that era. Especially since Wynne is an amateur.

“The Courier” captivates from beginning to end and you learn something as well. It’s not earth-shattering, but a really good, solid film if you have any interest in this period in history.

Rating: 3,5/ 5