“Oh, now that is quite a question, which I can’t answer today.”

From The Courier.

In 1960, Russian national, Oleg Penskovsky (Merab Ninidze) slipped a message to a visiting American for the CIA. As a result, four months later CIA agent Emily (Rachel Brosnahan) finds herself in England beginning an intelligence collaboration with MI6 for Oleg’s offer to give information in exchange for help defecting to America if discovered by his government.  Emily and her British counterpart, Franks (Angus Wright) realize that Oleg could provide valuable and limitless information as Russia builds up nuclear power, but getting the information out of the country proves impossible, until Franks reaches out to British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch).  Greville’s business dealings throughout Europe, including several communist countries, opens the door for him to easily enter Russia and meet with the national business committee of which Oleg is chairman. Greville is reluctant to be involved in this dangerous espionage stunt, but Emily and Franks assure him that he will just have to carry out his normal routine for building new contracts, only acting as a courier for Oleg’s information as needed.  Keeping his real reason for seeking contacts in Russian from his wife (Jessie Buckley) and son (Keir Hills), Greville begins meeting in Russia with Oleg, slowly growing his business ventures. Working together so closely, Greville and Oleg develop a friendship and a routine that allows them to transfer a steady flow of nuclear information for several years. However, when Oleg discovers information about Russian missiles being sent to Cuba, the dawning off the Cuban Missile Crisis instantly poses a greater risk. While MI6 tells Greville that he won’t have to go back to Russia because of the danger, he is unwilling to leave Oleg to face the wrath of the Russian government; so Greville volunteers to go back one last time to give Oleg the information on how to escape to America. With the KGB closing in and the world on the brink of a nuclear war, Greville and Oleg race to escape Russia before it is too late.

Inspired by real events, this film offers a look into one man’s unbelievable service to his country. Cumberbatch is genuine and talented in his role, growing as the film progresses. The Courier is an even-paced, true-to-life Cold War thriller that will keep viewers mesmerized until the very end.

| Rated: PG-13| Running Time: 111 minutes |Genre: thriller/biography|

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 2* of 10|Nudity: 2 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 2 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|