Pierce Brosnan gets to relive his James Bond glory days in
Roger Donaldson’s “The November Man” as Peter Devereaux, a former C.I.A
operative that’s called out of retirement for one last mission. And it’s fun to
see the sixty-one year old British actor play the part of the seasoned
professional. Outsmarting government agents and bad guys—sometimes the two
overlap—while kicking butt with ease. Brosnan doesn’t have to do much acting;
he’s still got the suave smirk, the rich and soothing accent. Unfortunately,
Brosnan is let down by a screenplay that’s too by-the-book and convoluted.
Based on the book “There Are No Spies” by Bill Granger, with
a script by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek, most of the movie’s action takes
place in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Though it may as well be referred to as:
European Action Movie Playground, as gunfights, car chases, double crosses, big
revelations and other action/thriller clichés happen without any trouble. The
entire Belgrade police department appears to have taken a vacation while the
events in the picture unfold and the pedestrians on the street may as well be
cardboard cutouts. Normally this lack of interaction between the environment
and central characters and events wouldn’t be a big problem but everything in
“The November Man” feels too familiar. I mean we’re talking about yet another movie about yet another ex-Operative
who’s called out of retirement. And Donaldson simply mixes in too many familiar
ingredients resulting in a movie that probably thinks it’s being clever and
complex when it’s bloated and muddled instead.
The strongest aspect of “The November Man” is the rivalry
between Peter and young agent Mason (Luke Bracey) a former pupil of Peter’s.
After Peter is reactivated by his former boss Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) and
things go south, Mason chases Peter around the crowded Belgrade streets. While
not great, the master/apprentice dynamic between Bracey and Brosnan is engaging
and it’s entertaining to watch Brosnan gain the upper hand at nearly every
turn. Had it just been about the rivalry, “The November Man” could have been at
the very least a decent action/thriller. But Donaldson insists on adding in all
these other familiar contrivances to try and complicate things.
Peter has to protect a young social worker Alice (Olga Kurylenko)
who has some important information on the Russian president elect’s malevolent
past. A flexible Russian female assassin that’s hired to kill Alice disappears
and reappears sporadically throughout the picture and towards the end Peter’s
twelve-year-old daughter is brought into the mix as well. All of these things making the picture more
complicated and cliché than it needs to be. The daughter strand is a
particularly lazy attempt to raise the stakes late in the game, as the
character is nearly robotic.
All of these twists and turns that take place aren’t very
surprising and the final mysteries involving Alice’s true identity and who the
real antagonists are can be seen from a mile away. Not only that, the continuity
between scenes is confusing at times; sudden transitions may leave you asking
questions like: “hey, wasn’t that guy just being held in a C.I.A. interrogation
room? How did he become in charge of the entire operation to find Peter?”
As I write this
review there are already plans to make a sequel, which makes sense considering
the movie concludes with a number of loose ends. Assuming the audience is going
to be entertained enough by the first installment to want another one before the
first one even comes out is risky. Especially when it isn’t an existing
property. “The November Man” is by no means terrible—Brosnan’s charm certainly
makes it watchable—but it’s not compelling or original enough to generate much
interest in a sequel.
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