THE COURIER – Review

By Cate Marquis | March 21, 2021

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in the true-story THE COURIER, an entertaining Cold War-era spy tale told in a pleasingly classic style. Grounded by sterling performances by Cumberbatch and Merab Ninidze, from TV’s “McMafia,” this is a true story about an ordinary British citizen Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) recruited by MI6 and the CIA to contact a high-level Soviet military intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze), and who ends up at a courier carrying intelligence back to London as the Cold War heats up, intelligence that proves crucial in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The two men form a unexpected friendship, bonding as family men who both want to avoid nuclear war, something the Russian colonel fears Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev is moving towards.

In the long Cold War, the most heated moment was the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war as President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Khrushchev faced off over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. In the run-up to this crisis, the high-ranking Russian in this spy tale provided crucial information that averted nuclear war.

THE COURIER is done in the style of a old-fashioned spy thriller, the kind they don’t much make any more – an entertaining, satisfying tale driven more by character and tense situations than explosions and chases, although there are a few of the later. But the biggest strength of the film lies in its two central performances, particularly the excellent Cumberbatch, and its true-story basis.

As readers may know, Khrushchev was the Soviet leader who banged on a table with his shoe and later promised “we will bury you” to capitalist Western nations. He might have meant economically but the heated tone was shockingly different from his predecessor Stalin. The Cold War was reaching its most heated period in the early 1960s, culminating in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. THE COURIER gives enough information about that crisis and the Cold War period to make the story work without bogging down the thriller in a history lesson.

Cumberbatch’s and Ninidze’s excellent performances are the major strength of the film, and the tale is built around their friendship, but director Dominic Cooke (ON CHESIL BEACH) keeps the pace and focus just right, working from a script by Tom O’Connor, and supported by moody photography by Sean Bobbitt and a perfect score by Abel Korzeniowski.

There is a lot of fun in the first two-thirds of the film, before the film takes a darker turn towards its end, which does not work as well but is a necessary part of the whole story. At the start, the tone is almost breezy, as British salesman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) is contacted by MI6’s Dickie Franks (Angus Wright) and CIA’s Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan), about a one-time mission to Moscow to contact a high ranking official. Wynne is skeptical and dismissive, even joking a bit about having lunch with spies, and protests that he is unqualified because he is just a salesman. But Franks assures him that is exactly why he can do the job, and then reassures him he will be “perfectly safe.” If there was any risk, the MI6 agent tells him, “you are the last person we would send,” bluntly telling Wynne he drinks too much and is out of shape, which leaves the salesman winching.

Eventually, Wynne agrees to do the job but, of course, it turns out not to be a one-off. After he meets the Russian intelligence colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze), Penkovsky takes an instant liking to him and insists Wynne continue as the courier.

Most of the characters in this true story are based on real people, although Rachel Brosnahan’s CIA operative is a composite. But there were indeed women in MI6 and the CIA at the time, and making the character a woman allows the filmmakers to explore a little bit the challenges of women working in that male-dominated field in that male-dominated era.

It is no surprise Penkovsky likes Wynne, as Cumberbatch’s Wynne is indeed a likable fellow, whether joking with his young wife Sheila (Jessie Buckley) and their young son, or in early scenes with the MI6 and CIA operatives, where he can’t help making spy jokes. He is nervous at first about going to Moscow, but quickly falls into his familiar salesman persona, telling the Soviets he is trying to open up a new business partnership with their factories to sell them the kind of scientific and manufacturing equipment the company he works for makes.

Wynne clearly is having a bit of fun playing his dual role, and Cumberbatch seems to be too, and is at his most charming and entertaining in these scenes. There is a lot of wining and dining of Soviet officials in his cover of selling them factory equipment. Early on, Penkovsky tells Wynne that the key to his success with the Russians will depend on his ability to hold his liquor, to which Wynne replies, with a sly smile, that it is his greatest skill.

Wynne and Penkovsky bond as fellow family men and over their shared concerns about nuclear war, an ever-present worry in that era. Indeed, Penkovsky had reached out to the Brits over his concerns about war, and the intentions of the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who seemed to be moving in that direction.

Although the story starts in 1960, this is the Sixties before they began to swing. The period feels more late ’50s and director Dominic Cooke captures that perfectly, with excellent period locations, sets and costumes. As befits these characters, the film goes with muted tones and conservative outfits, which better suit the conservative middle-class Wynne and the buttoned-down espionage pros. The choice works best for a story that is much more John LeCarre than Ian Fleming and his creation James Bond.

Exteriors where shot in London and in Prague, which stands in for Moscow. The action takes place in gray streets and alley, and in often half-lit and shadowed rooms. De-saturated colors and stone buildings emphasize the similarities between London and Moscow rather than the differences. However, there is a flash of period color and show of cultural differences when Wynne and Penkovsky trade cultural experiences in each other’s home cities. They bond over theater when Penkovsky takes Wynne to the ballet in Moscow, and the salesman is overwhelmed by the beauty of the experience. When the Russian visits London, Wynne takes him to their theater district, which instead is filled with modern hit musicals, and they end up in a bright, glittering nightclub.

The film’s breezy fun tone takes a darker turn when the Cuban Missile Crisis heats up and the world stands on the brink of nuclear war, averted in part by information from Penkovsky. As the Soviets search for the leak, Wynne insists on returning to Moscow in an effort to get his friend out. Things don’t go well but what follows is moving, if sometimes hard to watch, and an essential part of the story, demonstrating the inner strength of the real Wynne and Penkovsky, their friendship and common commitment to peace.

THE COURIER is not a perfect film but it certainly a worthy one, grounded by excellent performances and an inspiring story of friendship.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars