The Courier Review (Spoiler Free)

The Courier is based on a true story about a British businessman called Greville Wynne who is recruited by the British and American secret services to help prevent a nuclear war from happening, as we know today as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Greville works with a Soviet officer called Oleg to provide intelligence to help prevent the crisis in the early 1960s. Greville becomes a M16 spy and his cover for going to Moscow is being a courier, hence the title of the film. He is supposed to pretend to do business in Moscow, but really he is collecting intelligence for the British and the Americans. The reason why M16 chose Grenville as a spy is because he is someone who anyone least suspects to be gathering information.

What I like about this film was that it has a serious tone throughout and we know how high the stakes are for our main characters. The star of the film is Benedict Cumberbatch, who's performance was exceptional as always. Benedict's character really made the film worth watching, because the stress and the trauma he goes through throughout really made me connect with the character. Oleg was a real pleasure to watch as a character as well, because he shows us that even though there is evil in this world there is always someone who is willing to risk there life to save the majority. The relationship between Greville and Oleg is a pleasure to watch, and there friendship adds a layer to the film that really pays off at the end. The film's pacing was excellent. It was not too long and it had a dark tone throughout as it should be for a story like this. I like how the film starts off light, but towards the latter part it get's very dark and very real.

The knit picks I had for the film is that we didn't really get to connect with Oleg because we didn't see as much of him as I would of liked. Oleg is the most likeable character in the film because he is brave and he does what's right no matter what the consequences are. I feel seeing Oleg's personal life more would of helped me care about the character more. Other than that the film was excellent and very entertaining throughout.

Verdict - 8/10

Overall the Courier is emotional, dark at times and an interesting watch if you like history, especially about the Cold War. I would recommend giving this film a try, if you like true stories about the war.