Reviews by:
@ryan_the_nixon
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The Courier
2021
12A
director: Dominic Cooke
starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Jessie Buckley, Rachel Brosnahan, Angus Wright, Keir Hills etc
The courier is about a cold war spy called Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his Russian source who try to put an end to the Cuban missile crisis. Wow what a beautiful and fascinating film.
My first few positives would be the great cinematography, intriguing set up and fantastic chemistry between the cast. As well as the performances and likeable characters. The film was visually stunning, largely helped by the fantastic scenery and set locations. There was some interesting tracking shots and close ups used that really made you appreciate the imagery and the beautiful locations of the film. I also thought the set up was interesting, having the Russian source give a mystery document to two complete strangers, really set up the mysterious tone of the film well, and left me intrigued and wanting more. I thought the whole cast had fantastic chemistry with each other. The friendship between Benedict Cumberbatch and Marab Ninidze was one of the strongest elements of the film. They grew as friends and learned more about each other and built their trust. Their chemistry was very charming. Also, Benedict and Jessie Buckley also had fantastic chemistry, their relationship was heart-breaking and authentic. The performances from everyone were also fantastic. Benedict Cumberbatch, Marab Ninidze and Jessie Buckley were fantastic standouts. They delivered charming and authentic performances. Showing tremendous versatility and talent with very demanding roles. I also really liked that the main two characters were very likeable, and family orientated. It made me connect with them on a personal level and they were much easier to connect with.
My next few positives would be the charming tone and culture. The building of tension, and fantastic stakes for the plot and characters. As well as great in-depth themes and personal scenes. This film had such a nice charm to it in places. Whether it was the likeable characters the fascinating culture of the 60, s that was well explored or the chemistry between the cast. The film managed to achieve a balance of charm and gritty spy thriller and made it work. The building of tension was also fantastic, the film did an incredible job at slowly becoming more and more intense as the characters struggled to keep their identities hidden. With some excellent tense scenes between soviet generals that were unpredictable and had me on the edge of my seat. The reason why the tension worked so well was because of the huge stakes for the plot and characters. The characters had so much to lose if something went wrong and the threat of that happening increased as the film developed. And the stakes for the plot increased as tensions went up between the soviets and America with the threat of nuclear war genuinely terrifying to watch. I also liked the depth added to the themes and the more personal scenes within the film. I think the themes touched on in this film were excellent. The film really touched upon society’s fears of other countries and the conflict between two different countries. But balanced this out with two main characters that were on two completely different sides, reflecting that we are all human and not too different after all. It was a really touching element to the film. Finally, I also really liked the more personal moments to the film, they made you connect with the main characters so much more, giving them some great depth, as the film went into detail about their relationships with their partners.
I only had a few issues with the film. The pacing was inconsistent in places. There was some rushed explanation, and there were some inconsistencies with certain characters. The pacing for me was inconsistent in places. There were often scenes that switched from rushing through particular scenes or had slow pacing in places. This just made the film slightly clunky in parts. I also thought they rushed over certain scenes. I think some of the important scenes involving more explanation into the plot were rushed over slightly too quickly, so therefore it was difficult to understand or get a bigger picture in parts on what was going on. Finally, there were also some inconsistencies with certain characters. Where they would either be underused or didn’t really feel needed to the plot in parts.
My final few positives would be the interesting elements to do with Spies. The intense final act and the emotional weight it bought to the film. And the moving and satisfying ending. I thought the film went into a great amount of detail into how being a spy worked in the 60’s it was intriguing and fascinating to me and the number of different things that Greville had to do was intense and extremely detailed. The final act was incredibly intense and very hard to watch. Seeing Greville slowly waste away in prison after getting caught was admittedly hard to watch. It was disgusting how he was treated and really made me feel uncomfortable, which is a huge positive as the film made me feel emotion and connect with the character. It really added a lot of emotional weight to the film, highlighting his love for his family. This just made the ending that bit more moving and satisfying. As he was finally reunited with his family it was very moving to watch, and heart-breaking to see how ill he had become.
Overall, The Courier despite having some inconsistencies with its characters and pacing. Is a captivating, thrilling and intense thriller. That packs an emotional punch. With a fantastic cast and a fascinating story to tell.
Overall rating 86/100
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