The Courier

Benedict Cumberbatch has enjoyed a lot of praise lately for his work in The Power of the Dog and the Marvel films but one such film came in under the radar, having its release caught in the mix of the pandemic in March 2020, with The Courier. Directed by Dominic Cooke as his second feature film, he set to explore the interesting life of Greville Wynne who is not someone I'm familiar with but his story is very interesting and set the scene for a compelling experience.

Cumberbatch stars as Wynne, a husband and father of a small family who works as a salesman in early 1960s London. His profession allows him to travel with ease around Europe which makes him the ideal candidate for a joint MI6 and CIA operation to help smuggle information out of the Soviet Union through their contact, Oleg Penkovsky, and hopefully avoid the outbreak of a new war. 

The Courier could have been a fine mini-series but, given the ongoing secrecy among many details of what actually happened, Cooke still delivers a very tightly paced and engaging drama all within two hours, while supported by a talented cast. Cumberbatch is great in the leading role as the perfectly pleasant Wynne who is thrown into a world of spies and espionage, and his presence in the film will help to shine a light on a lesser-known historical figure. 

While the censoring of some historical details sits in my mind making me wonder what we're missing, The Courier is still a very solid drama that sadly feels all too relevant today. There is a TV element to the film which maybe hinders it from being the most memorable and what potentially saw it being overlooked come awards season but, regardless, The Courier gets a good recommendation from me.