The November Man

Greetings and salutations, Readers of Rotten. Yeah that still sounds iffy at best. Seriously, someone workshop a better fan base name. I am coming at you with NOT a horror movie. Shocked? I can only imagine. Instead I recently had the good fortune to sink my teeth (metaphorically) into a decent spy/thriller/action film starring that Pierce Brosnan fellow. Yeah you may have heard of him from time to time. A retired spy, a long standing conspiracy, war crimes and student versus the master. This is The November Man. 

 

These prices are outrageous!

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the novel, "There Are No Spies" by the late Bill Granger; our titled movie is actually the 7^th novel of 12 and yes this writer is telling anyone that loves a good spy game to go and pick those books up.

Our story follows veteran CIA handler/operative Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosan of Remington Steele, Noble House, The Lawnmower Man, Live Wire, GoldenEye, Robinson Crusoe, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Thomas Crown Affair, The World Is Not Enough, The Tailor of Panama, After the Sunset, The Ghost Writer and I Don't Know How She Does It) grooming his protege, David Mason, sharpshooter, hand-to-hand and follows orders (Luke Bracey of Home and Away, Dance Academy, Monte Carlo, Amensia, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Westside, Point Break, Hacksaw Ridge and Lucky Day) until he jumps the literal gun and a civilian is caught in the line of fire. Devereaux retires five years later and is free of the CIA's black bag ops, running a small cafe off of Montenegro and living life. 

 

Die, squirrel die!

 

 

 

 

 

A visit from an old colleague, John Hanley (Bill Smitrovich of Miami Vice, Band of the Hand, Manhunter, Crime Story, Life Goes On, The Phantom, Ghosts of Mississippi. Batman Beyond, Nash Bridges, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, The Practice and The Event) drops Devereaux intel that former General soon-to-be President of Russia, Arkady Federov (Lazar Ristovski of Svetozar Markovic, Terasa, The Way Steel Was Tempered, Underground, Rage, Balkan Rules, Midwinter Night's Dream, The White Lions and On The Other Side) has serious dirt that the CIA wants and they are using an operative that Devereaux recruited. Hanley says that she will only come in if Devereaux is there for the extraction.

The op goes down, car chases ensue and bullets start flying. Yeesh sounds like a hybrid of Jason Bourne and James Bond happening in Belgrade!! The asset dies, Devereaux is pissed and Mason left with the smoking gun. This huge amount of casualties and property destruction all for one name. Mira. A girl that has been missing since 1999 at age fifteen. While FSB and the CIA are all scrambling around with girls on their brains and heads up their asses, the President elect sends a wet work assassin to find anyone with the whereabouts of Mira and remove her.

Devereaux uses his skill set and finds a case worker that deals with refugees, Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko of The Serpent, Hitman, Max Payne, Quantum of Solace, Tyranny, Erased, To the Wonder, Seven Psychopaths, Magic City, Vampire Academy and A Perfect Day) whose every day life of shuffling papers, placing displaced girls and giving them a better life just went rocky. With more chases, fist fights and a bit of John Woo inspired Gun Fu, Devereaux and Alice get out alive but for how long?

 

 

Popeye's packin' a rod!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calling this a political SNAFU is similar to calling the meltdown of Chernobyl a minor inconvenience. Players on all sides are looking for this girl Alice now and the objectives are not clear if she is to be interrogated, tortured, murdered or in general; have an unpleasant weekend.

The clock is ticking and Devereaux is not the young man he was but by God he is going to make retirement rather interesting.

Will the Russians get the girl? Will the CIA give her asylum? With either put a bullet through her?

 

 

Let me go on the record of saying that Devereaux is a fairly dark character. If you were expecting shaken martinis, glib lines and gentleman's rule of fisticuffs. WRONG MOVIE. Yes, we do have a former Bond but Brosnan is so far removed from that bit of double o, you start to fear for the girl's safety in even his hands.

Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, Cocktail, Dante's Peak, Species, The Recruit, Thirteen Days, and The Bank Job) wanted an older Bond for this role, give him a near sinister way of doing things. Daniel Craig was originally cast but prior commitments made him bow out. Donaldson opted for Sir Sean Connery, who flat out said, "I'm too old to be running around with a gun." and then remembered the rapport he already had with Pierce courtesy of Dante's Peak.

This is moody, rough and tumble. Gun play and yes fellas, there's some titty scenes. No ladies, I don't even wait for them to message me any more. Anytime I get hyped up about a compelling story or clever character arc; the almost automatic response is, "Uh yeah. So there's titty, right?" Apologies for my gender's behavior once again, ladies.

The overall vibe of this flick? Gritty, badass fights, good story and a really bang on cast for this spy thriller. Hell, I can easily watch this again.

 

Like my Ghost in the Shell cosplay?