This was a pretty good movie, made astonishing, because of the valor of its real life heroes, Russian agent Penkovsky and British businessman Wynne. It was intriguing because I was unfamiliar with their story, and had no idea how it would end. But, there are better spy thrillers out there than this one because the director was focused more on telling an implausible (true) story, rather than making a great spy thriller. For instance, there are many quick-cut scenes with music score but without dialogue intended to convey gradual unravelling of subterfuge rather than detailing events with actor interactions. I think that lessened the suspense we love in spy thrillers. Still, there is strong acting from Merab Ninidze as Penkovsky, who I've never heard of or seen before, but he really reminded me of a famous actor from the past. Benedict Cumberbatch as Wynne turns in a good performance, but actor who played American CIA agent Emily was not credible. There's a jarring shift in tone and subject matter that occurs halfway through the film that, with better direction . could have been more of an evolving process. I still think a good film and head & shoulders above the alternatives.
Review of The Courier
