• Home
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Blog
  • E-Board
  • Around Boston
NUFEC
.

Neel Shah's Netflix Pick-of-the-Week: The November Man

4/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wow, this movie was an absolute mess. To me, The November Man was an espionage thriller that felt like a shoddy combination of Bourne and Bond, with an old Bond actor at the helm, hoping to get back in the action movie game. The result is a rather confusing movie that utterly lacks direction and drive.

The November Man follows retired CIA agent Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) as he comes out of retirement at the request of his former CIA partner, John Hanley (Bill Smitrovich), in order to safely escort his former lover and also CIA agent, Natalia Ulanova (Mediha Musliovic) out of Moscow. Ulanova is a critical asset to the agency as she knows critical intel about Russian President Arkady Federov (Lazar Ristovski). The extraction operation goes wrong, and a kill order is put out for Devereaux, who must use his wits and exceptional combat skills to evade both the CIA and the Russians, whilst uncovering a conspiracy between the Russian government and the CIA dating back to the second Chechen War.

Although I tried to explain the plot as clearly as possible, to be honest, I was very confused throughout this entire film. This confusion was not an interesting type of confusion, such as in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, where the viewer has to piece together the mystery as the MI6 agents do. In The November Man, supposedly important characters disappear for no reason, and certain characters almost teleport from one location to another without explanation. A certain degree of confusion and mystery is essential in any good espionage movie, but this movie crosses the line into nonsensical. The only “big twist” that the movie has is very predictable and poorly handled, and will probably leave audience members more confused than ever. Perhaps my biggest issue with this film is its Russia heavy storyline. It has been over three decades since the worst periods of the Cold War, and I feel that modern espionage movies should focus on new countries, such as Japan, China or North Korea. The USA versus Russia espionage movie has long run its course, and this premise should be retired.

Pierce Brosnan does a perfectly mediocre job as Peter Devereaux. Brosnan tries to use his years as James Bond to inform his role as Peter Devereaux. However, Peter Devereaux simply lacks all the characteristics that make Bond appealing as a character. Devereaux is an old bitter man, who seems to love no one, and pretty much hates everything. While Bond has a similar lack of emotion, at least Bond is utterly faithful to England and has lots of charm. Devereaux honestly comes off as more of a jerk than anything else.

What frustrated me the most was that this movie had lots of potential. Throughout the course of the film, Devereaux is pursued by a CIA assassin, Peter Mason (Luke Bracey), who was his former protégé. In the trailers, it is implied that their relationship would be at the forefront of the movie. In my opinion, a movie about a former CIA agent being pursued by his former protégé would be a compelling and interesting movie. Sadly, however, this relationship is completely buried by a bunch of Russian Cold War politics in the movie, thus destroying the one thing that this movie had going for it. Don’t bother watching this movie. Watch Skyfall, or the Bourne Identity.

Grade: C
This article is part of an ongoing series. Recent entries have included There Will Be Blood, Rounders, and Side Effects.
You can read Carter Sigl's review of The November Man from its initial release here.
You can watch The November Man on Netflix here.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    AJ Martin
    Andy Robinson
    Anime
    Anthony Formicola
    Anu Gulati
    Arjun Agarwal
    Arzu Martinez
    Ben Garbow
    Brandon Isaacson
    Brian Hamilton
    Carter Sigl
    Dan Simeone
    Discussion
    Elizabeth Johnson Wilson
    Eliza Rosenberry
    Emily Fisler
    Erick Sanchez
    Eric Tatar
    Essays
    Festivals
    Gabrielle Ulubay
    Grace Phalon
    Haley Emerson
    Here's Some Movies
    Ian Wolff
    IFF Boston
    IFFBoston 2015
    Interviews
    Isaac Feldberg
    Kunal Asarsa
    Library
    Lists
    Marguerite Darcy
    Marissa Marchese
    Marli Dorn
    Mary Tobin
    Meghan Murphy
    Mike Muse
    Mitch Macro
    Neel Shah
    Netflix Instant Watch
    Parth Parekh
    Patrick Roos
    Profiles
    Reviews
    Short Films
    Television
    This Week In Movies
    Tyler Rosini

    Want to Write for Us?

    Contact NUFEC at [email protected] if you're interested in writing for this blog!

    Archives

    October 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.