THE NOVEMBER MAN
DIRECTOR: Roger Donaldson
CAST: Pierce Brosnan, Olga Kurylenko, Luke Bracey, Bill Smitrovich
CLASSIFICATION: 16 L SV
RUNNING TIME: 108 minutes
RATING: ****
The November Man, a high-action spy thriller, is one of those movies you can bank on for a good night out at the movies.
First, having a plot that revolves around the CIA almost guarantees an interesting storyline with enough suspicion, political conspiracy, suspense and twists to keep you hooked throughout the film… check!
Second, with direction by Roger Donaldson, who directed The Recruit, also a CIA spy-thriller, you know there’s going to be some good action on the cards… check!
And when you add Pierce Brosnan as the anchor character, you immediately know this is going to be good.
In The November Man, Brosnan is the hardcore, deadly Peter Devereaux rather than the suave ladies’ man he was as James Bond.
A highly skilled former CIA agent, he is lured out of retirement for a special mission by a friend; or at least that’s what he thinks (work with me, this is a CIA spy movie so everything is never as it seems).
He ends up in Russia, protecting Alice Fournier (Kurylenko), who as a child witnessed atrocities committed by the CIA and present-day Russian leaders. He is also being hunted by CIA agent David Mason (Luke Bracey), who was once Devereaux’s protégé.
Can Devereaux make sense of what is going on? And can he escape a spy who is virtually the younger version of himself, in thinking and strategy?
Based on the novel There Are No Spies by Bill Granger, the seventh instalment in The November Man series of books, this film is packed with edge-of-your-seat suspense and action.
Brosnan adds his name to the list of ageing action stars who are making a comeback. Think Bruce Willis (Die Hard), Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Last Stand), Liam Neeson (Taken 1 and 2, Non-Stop) – the ballies of Hollywood. And like his peers, Brosnan proves that he has loads of kick left in him.
If you liked The Recruit and Spy Game you’ll like this.