Eddie King
Staff Writer
Jumping back into the espionage thriller genre that propelled him into stardom, Pierce Brosnan once again plays the role of secret agent in the action packed and brilliantly executed thriller, “The November Man.”
Brosnan’s newest theatrical accomplishment is full of excitement with an easily discernible, engaging plot, believable characters, and fast paced action. However, too much dramatization and overused cliché moments somewhat obstruct the film’s success.
The film centers around retired Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) who is coaxed out of retirement by an old friend and CIA agent John Hanley (Bill Smitrovich). He is called to protect Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko), a former Chechen refugee who has information that ties war crimes to corrupted presidential candidate Arkady Fedorov (Lazar Ristovski). Inner conflicts and corruption in the CIA and a battle between Devereaux and his former CIA protégé Mason (Luke Bracey) further complicate matters and force Devereaux to work against both sides of the conflict in order to reveal secrets that will impact the Russian parliament and the CIA.
The film is engaging from the start as the major outline of the plot is set up within the first scene. This strategic placement makes the plot easier to follow, and eliminates any confusion normally experienced in a movie filled with mystery and many moving parts.
Another redeemable aspect of the film is the never-ending fast paced action. Guns blazing around every corner, car chases, and catastrophic explosions leave viewers completely satisfied with the visual splendor. The film also features the newest and best CIA gadgets, a classic element of the espionage genre.
The performances of the actors keeps the movie interesting. The cold and fierce persona projected by Devereaux is executed to perfection because of the skills of the experienced Brosnan. Smitrovich does an exceptional job and was well cast as corrupt agent John Hanley, and Russian assassin Alexa (Amila Terzimehic) looks menacing and terrifying and will strike fear into many viewers. The “November Man” is an excellent display of acting in difficult roles.
However, “The November Man” contains many clichés that hinder the film’s success. There are a few hollywood cliché moments that appear throughout the film that make it typical and cheesy. This includes Devereaux walking away nonchalantly from an explosion behind him as well as the overuse of slow motion to capture bullets ripping through Devereaux’s victims.
Many questionable moral decisions also hurt the film overall. The classic tone of the espionage thriller genre is cold and tense, and the screenwriters emulate this by scripting the soulless decisions Devereaux makes throughout the film. Many of these hinder the few redeemable moral qualities Devereaux has and may cause viewers to feel little to no empathy or remorse toward his cold personality.
Overall, the “November Man” exemplifies how a thriller should be executed and although the movie contains questionable moral choices and cliché moments, it recovers with balanced plot progression, first class acting, exceptional visuals, and intense scenes of action and violence.
The “November Man” is rated R and is now playing in theaters nationwide.
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