The November Man

If Pierce Brosnan would not have accepted to become James Bond in Goldeneye, his career would probably look different today. I would imagine most people in my age have seen his classic tv series Remington Steele, or perhaps remember his performance in the classic 80´s thriller The Fourth Protocol. To see him and Michael Caine on screen was a great combination, and even if the film is 27 years old, there is still a nostalgic feeling of a classic british spy thriller. As he ended his James Bond career in 2002 with Die Another Day, he took the chance to try many different genres in motion pictures. One of the best choices he made was to be a part of Roman Polanskis thriller The Ghost Writer. This was a great comeback for Roman Polanski after his remake of Oliver Twist. I was surprised to see Brosnan show up in the sci fi comedy World´s End, a really funny british comedy. If you have not seen it, i suggest you rent it. Brosnan is one of those actors who try and mix his film genres, and i think that is important so you don´t get stuck in the same pattern. Remember Hugh Grant ? The November Man is a new spy action thriller, based on the novel Bill Granger. This film is actually directed by Roger Donaldson, who also worked with Pierce Brosnan in the 90´s film Dante´s Peak. With these 2 veterans working together again, in a new thriller, is this a combination that fits perfect together, or did Brosnan make better films in his earlier career than this ?

CIA Officer Peter Devereaux ( Pierce Brosnan ) retires from the agency in 2008, after his partner David Mason ( Luke Bracey ) disobeys orders from Devereaux on a mission. He is ordered not to fire his sniper rifle while protecting a US Ambassador in Montenegro. David still take the shot at the assassin, and accidently kill a Young girl by mistake. Peter Devereaux is furious, and resign right away. He retires in Switzerland, opening a coffee shop. One day Peter's former boss, John Hanley ( Bill Smitrovich ) seeks up Devereaux, asking him to help them do one more mission. John wants Deveraux to extract a deep cover CIA operative from Russia, Natalia Ulanova ( Mediha Musliovic ). Natalia works in secret as the aide of presidential candidate and former Russian Army General Arkady Fedorov ( Lazar Ristovski ). There is proof from a witness, that Federov is a war criminal. Natalia need to pass this information on, and she manage to break inside Federov´s personal safe, containing information of a young girl that could give them further details on Federov´s crimes. As Federov return he notice someone have opened his safe, and set the alarm going. Natalia have already escaped the building but is followed by Federov´s men. She was supposed to be protected by David Mason´s team, but Devereaux picks her up to make sure she is safe. Natalia reveal the name of the witness, Mira Filipova ( Olga Kurylenko ). Devereaux calls up Masons team with the name, as David understand Devereaux is working on this case also. CIA station chief Perry Weinstein ( Will Patton ) give the order to Mason to kill Natalia, and he manage to do so at a location with Devereaux, where he use his sniper rifle. Devereaux is trying to manipulate Mason, but there are more problems along the way. Assassin Alexa ( Amila Terzimehić ) arrives to Belgrade, where she is given the mission to kill refugee case worker Alice Fournier, also known as Mira Filipova. She is expected to meet NY times reporter Edgar Simpson ( Patrick Kennedy ) in a restaurant giving him information on Federov. Alexa track Alice down, and is just about to kill her, but Devereaux stops the assassination. Federov will not stop until Alice is dead, but is there someone else behind this operation ?

After doing some more serious choices lately in drama motion pictures, and comedy, it feels good to see Pierce Brosnan back in a thriller genre. He fits just great as the retired CIA officer, who agree to do one more mission. The November Man feels like a throwback to classic thrillers in the same feeling as Patriot Games, with Harrison Ford. There is plenty of solid action scenes, but the story is also good enough to feel interested in. Director Roger Donaldson did direct a very good thriller in the 80´s that you might remember. No Way Out with Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman and Sean Young. This film proved why he could make a great thriller on an intelligent plot, without using too many cliché ingredients. The November Man may not reach the same level as No Way Out, but the combination of classic CIA operations and good acting from Pierce Brosnan makes it all worth your time. Luke Bracey have only been acting in a few motion pictures so far, but this is his best performance from an acting perspective. I like the fast tempo between takes, once the chase is on. There are a few scenes that feels very similar to many other spy thrillers, like director Roger Donaldson run out of ideas and filled in with some details, just to finish the scene. I would have wanted some more surprises in the plot instead, it would have made The November Man even better. Still, as an action thriller, this is a film that keeps the tempo and the feeling of classic spy thrillers. There are rumours that Pierce Brosnan might be joining the team in The Expendabes 4, if it is possible i think he could bring both charm and toughness from his James Bond films. We will have to see if Stallone himself confirm the new cast, but Brosnan knows how to entertain. The November Man is a proof of that.

Rating: DDD