The Courier
Published October 7, 2021
Film info
- Title The Courier
- Director Dominic Cooke
- Year 2020
- Run time 1hr 52m
- Genres Drama, History, Thriller
- Tagline Based on the incredible true story of a Welsh businessman turned spy
In this true-life Cold War spy thriller, unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne becomes entangled in one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Recruited by MI6 and a CIA operative, Wynne forms a covert partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky, and both men risk everything in a danger-fraught race against time to provide the intelligence needed to prevent nuclear confrontation and end the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 6:46 | Love a good dossier file. |
| 8:16 | Nice moustache, Benedict. |
| 10:49 | “Plenty of demand, no local supply.” |
| 16:39 | It’s so grey. |
| 19:12 | “Can you hold your alcohol?” “It’s my one true gift.” |
| 27:39 | When has a government ever acted wisely? |
| 31:12 | Wow, Helen’s a bit heavy-handed. |
| 32:49 | “Maybe we’re only two people, but this is how thing’s change.” |
| 39:45 | Never think about the wall going up, mostly about it being there, or coming down. |
| 47:10 | “Yes, but your wife married a soldier. Mine married a salesman.” |
| 1:02:22 | Another film that proves I need to learn more history. Cuban Missile Crisis, is it? |
| 1:07:35 | The top secret room inside the embassy is amazing. Need that for podcasting. |
| 1:11:55 | Can’t take Swan Lake seriously now thanks to TayTay. |
| 1:20:21 | Uh oh, the gulag. |
| 1:30:24 | The buzzing light would do my head in. |
| 1:41:14 | That conversation didn’t go how they expected. |
Thoughts
This film has all the ingredients to make something really special, and although it was ultimately a good watch, I feel like it just missed the mark. Although there was plenty of activity right from the start, it took a while to actually grab you and get invested in what was going on. Clearly the stakes were high, but you didn’t really get that sense until a good hour or so in.
The relationship between Greville and Oleg was crucial and well done, they seemed to become good friends fundamentally, and did everything they could to help each other out. Mostly what this film did was make me want to find out more about the real life events, so for that, it gets bonus points.
Rating: 4 / 5