My Movie Review on The Courier (2020)

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take on "The Courier".

Normally, I would start my reviews off by giving a summary of what the things I'm analyzing are about. In the case of "The Courier", though, I decided to skip doing that because the film is a history-based motion picture, and I always have difficulty summarizing those.

However, to give you all a greater idea of what it's about, I'd like to share the key details:

"The Courier" chronicles the story of Greville Wynne, a British businessman of the 1960s who was recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service to act as a message conduit for Russian spy source, Oleg Penkovsky, who was a high ranking Soviet official and GRU intelligence officer with access to classified information. Together, they covertly deliver Russia's top secret nuclear documents to the MI6 & CIA in the hopes of preventing Russia and America from going into a nuclear war, and their biggest accomplishment out of undergoing their individual missions...was averting the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Among the cast members featured in this movie are Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne, Merab Ninidze as Oleg Penkovsky, Rachel Brosnahan as CIA officer Emily Donovan, Angus Wright as MI6 officer Dickie Franks, and Jessie Buckley as Wynne's wife: Sheila.

Similar to "TOGO", "The Courier" was another history-based motion picture that I've been wanting to review for a long time. I made a post specifically for showcasing the analysis on my personal website, but I put reviewing the movie aside because there were tons of other films I was more interested in analyzing. And, of course, I saved the post I created in my drafts to keep everything in standby.

But, since my film review-pile has lessened in recent months, it became easier for me to finally get around to analyzing "The Courier". So, I watched the movie for the 3rd time in my life earlier this year, to refresh my memory and ensure my thoughts were consistent.

Coming from a guy who gave this movie a rewatch recently, I'm proud to say with all confidence and certainty that "The Courier" is an absolute gem. And a smashing independent production too!

For instance, the direction by Dominic Cooke, and the story by Tom O'Conner, were spectacular.

The main thing I'd like to admit is that I didn't do any firsthand research on Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky, nor am I an expert on the Cold War. Heck, I've never even heard of Wynne or Penkovsky before seeing this movie! Although, I did learn that the film used the personal biographies and accounts of both men, as well as the studies of various historians who were researching them, for reference. I could definitely tell that the filmmakers were being as faithful as possible to the verified sources they used, that's for sure.

Outside of this, Dominic Cooke truly knew how to make "The Courier" enrapturing beyond just the historical aspects of it. Despite not being an all-out thriller, the movie had tension-filled and suspenseful moments that genuinely helped show how high the stakes of Greville & Oleg's individual missions were. Also, the dramatic, heartfelt, and emotional scenes were impressively potent and soul-tugging; and regardless of the movie not being an all-out comedy, there were plenty of witty moments to help lighten the mood and put audiences at ease.

Additionally, Cooke did an amazing job at making this movie be a visually-enrapturing experience without using special effects. His camera-anglings helped the overall surroundings be something for audiences to take in even as the characters were at the center, and not just went they're focused on from a frontal point either! Not to mention the cinematography by Sean Bobbitt was equally enjoyable.

Another aspect I enjoyed was Cooke's approach to depicting Russia as a Communist country. It was amazing how the film authentically portrayed what life under Communism was like, and in a time where the world has become infested with pro-Communist nut jobs, I think "The Courier" is definitely quite the eye-opener for why Communism is a terrible thing to support and what makes it so dangerous. It addresses that, under Communist-based rule, people have no personal freedoms or rights. You can't publicly say or do anything in opposition to the corrupt political leaders, because then the government would either kill, torture, or imprison . You aren't allowed to have any privacy whatsoever because the government will closely monitor your activities, particularly by planting bugs to hear what you're saying. And, whenever government officials want to know something, they'll do anything to get the information they're after.

Along with this, the music by Abel Korzeniowski was magnificent.

As I listened to the score, both when I rewatched the film and tuned in to its soundtrack on YouTube, I found every melody hypnotizingly entrancing. I loved that the tunes matched perfectly with the time period and setting, and the way Korzeniowski captured the movie's emotional unpredictability and high-strung suspense made his music all-the-more mesmerizing. My favorite aspect regarding the score was Korzeniowski's usage of piano music, as it enabled a sense of authenticity.

Finally, the acting, casting, characters, and character development were stupendous.

I really can't lie, Benedict Cumberbatch gave perhaps one of the best performances of his career. Not only did he have astoundingly uncanny similarities to Greville Wynne himself, but he played the part as though he literally became the actual person he was representing! His ability to portray powerful and authentic emotion was on full display, and he turned every piece of dialogue he was given into a memorable quote thanks to his vocal projections and deliveries. On top of that, Cumberbatch clearly went all-out in displaying the personal changes Greville went through while acting as the courier, and the way he captured Wynne's physical and emotional sufferings while he was in jail was both mesmerizing and haunting. It definitely surprises me that Cumberbatch wasn't given an Academy Award for his performance in this movie, that's for sure.

Plus, I can see why Merab Ninidze was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by the British Independent Film Awards. His performance as Oleg Penkovsky was equally enrapturing, and just like Cumberbatch, Ninidze's physical similarities to Penkovsky are so remarkable that he practically fit the part like a glove. Other performances that I particularly enjoyed were Rachel Brosnahan as Emily Donovan and Jessie Buckley as Sheila Wynne, because whenever either of the two ladies were onscreen, I'd be hooked with interest.

The character developments were outstanding as well.

Without a doubt, the ones who grew the most throughout this movie were Greville and Oleg. It was amazing to see how much taking on their individual missions affected Greville and Oleg as people, and
watching their relationship grow from being simple co-workers of the mission to very close friends was a heartwarming treat. Emily and Jessie also had wonderful character growths, that's for sure.

In conclusion, "The Courier" is one of the best biographical movies I've ever seen. It successfully brings to attention a historical event that's hardly talked about, gives the main featured past figures well-deserved recognition, and the creative talents involved in this film were clearly on their A-Game.

So, I rate "The Courier" a solid five out of five stars.