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‘courier x’: film review.

The real-life explosion of a commercial jet is at the center of 'Courier X,' a sprawling, globe-spanning conspiracy drama starring Udo Kier.

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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Courier X might not be “the film the CIA tried to stop,” as its promotional materials claim, but the many-stranded conspiracy drama could’ve been a contender. Placing elements of the agency in a global web of underworld activity, first-time filmmaker Thomas Gulamerian posits that it engineered the 1996 explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800. He offers details both compelling and tedious, without shaping them into a blood-pumping thriller.

The best thing about the feature, which takes its theatrical bow two weeks before segueing to VOD via Gravitas Ventures, is the collection of finely weathered faces among its ensemble of character actors. Along with the strong use of New York locations, they give the film a dramatic weight. Writer-director Gulamerian squanders his raw material, though, in an overload of plot and exposition. More succinct writing and tighter editing could have yielded a solid B picture.

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Release date: Oct 21, 2016

Among the uneven performances,  Udo   Kier  is reliably watchable as a former  Stasi  officer with ties to the CIA as well as to diamond smuggling. In the title role, first-timer  Bron Boier has an ultra-flat affect that might make sense for a mercenary who sees himself as “nothing but the mailman,” but it never stops being distracting. He plays Trenlin Polenski , who travels the globe smuggling diamonds and other contraband in his body. Through his work for Kier’s Nathan Vogel, a “classified asset” of the CIA, he becomes the “neutral” called upon to help bring down Flight 800. The reasons for the agency’s elaborate payback plot to stage an “aviation interruption with no post-visibility” — i.e., to bomb a plane in a way that can’t be detected — are the least plausible aspect of the speculative story.

Gulamerian begins the film with actual news reports of the crash (speaking of distracting, an anchor other than Brian Williams might have been a better choice). From there he moves back in time to introduce various CIA players, including the director (Lee Shepherd) and several agents (James C. Burns, Chris Boas, Ron Gilbert), some of whom are men of conscience and integrity, some deeply compromised.

Included in the film’s male-centric network of high-stakes deceit and big money are a New York mob boss (Gary Francis Hope), his henchmen (John Bianco , Anthony Mangano ) and, inevitably, a former Contra (Ralph Guzzo ), who blackmails the CIA with sensitive info about its activities in Nicaragua. A more public challenge to the agency arrives in the form of reports by investigative journalist Gary Webb (Jay Disney) purporting its role in the country’s crack epidemic. Brief scenes of Webb have an extraneous, stilted quality. It’s too bad his subplot isn’t better integrated into the story; Gulamerian caps it with footage from the extraordinary town meeting in Los Angeles when the CIA director addressed charges of drug trafficking.

There’s plenty to chew on, and most of the story’s threads are grounded in reason. But some are certainly flat. The movie loses its initial sense of mystery and suspense as Gulamerian ploddingly lays out the pieces rather than creating sparks of intriguing connection. His eye for locations and action particulars bodes well for future efforts, though, if he can add a surer grasp of dramatic momentum to his arsenal.

Distributor: Gravitas Ventures Production: International Artists Agency Cast: Udo Kier , James C. Burns, Lee Shepherd, Gary Francis Hope, Bron Boier , Iva Stelmak , John Bianco , Ralph Guzzo , Anthony Mangano , Chris Boas, Ron Gilbert, Jay Disney, Richard Gleason, Ben Van Bergen, Andrzej Krukowski , Tom Morrissey Director-s creenwriter -producer : Thomas Gulamerian Executive producer: Brian David Directors of photography: Mark Conrad Alkiewicz , Jonathan Dale Bell Art director: Chris X. Carroll  Composer: John Avarese

Not rated, 134 minutes

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Review: Conspiracy drama ‘Courier-X’ proves tedious

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The poster for “Courier-X” sports a splashy banner reading “The Film the CIA Tried to Stop.” Apparently that’s because the film claims to dramatize the conspiracy theory that the U.S. military was somehow involved in the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800. The CIA has absolutely nothing to worry about. There’s not a shred of drama here.

“Courier-X” is the only listed credit for writer-director-producer Thomas Gulamerian and star Bron Boier, and the inexperience is evident, despite the presence of established actors such as Udo Kier and James C. Burns. Boier plays a small-time gem smuggler contacted by the CIA, and the only character who gets something of a sketchy back story and personal life. That’s for naught, because his performance is wooden and devoid of charisma. The choppy editing and overly long scenes don’t help his case.

The film clocks in at a hefty 2 hours 14 minutes, filled mostly by growled dialogue between smugglers and mobsters and CIA agents. They walk and talk, sit and talk, call each other up on the phone and talk, all in the low-frequency tone of covert operations. There are far too many characters, including a small part for an actor playing journalist Gary Webb, who wrote about the link among the CIA, Central American drug dealers, the anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua and cocaine sales in the U.S. This should lend some conspiracy theory bona fides to the film, but it’s of no matter. “Courier-X” is so inscrutable and tediously boring that it will test the patience of even the most tenacious truther.

-------------

‘Courier-X’

Running time: 2 hours, 14 minutes

Playing: Laemmle NoHo 7, North Hollywood

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Where to Watch

Udo Kier (Nathan Vogel) James C. Burns (Walter Broadnax) Bron Boier (Trenlin Polenski) Richard Gleason (Jack Mitchell) Lee Shepherd (John) Ben Van Bergen (Ivan) Chris Boas (Oliver Wickie) Jay Disney (Gary Webb) Bernie Rachelle (Diamond Examiner) Eddie Martinez (Agent Davis)

Thomas Gulamerian

A smuggler of black market merchandise is solicited by the CIA for deleterious involvement with Flight TWA 800 and to cover up a Nicaraguan blackmail attempt on the agency.

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FILM REVIEW: “COURIER X”

By Bryan Kluger

Justin Cline here…

Courier X describes itself as “the film the CIA tried to stop.”

Does it deliver on its bombshell promise, or should the CIA have tried harder to keep it from us?

Courier X focuses on the events leading up to the explosion of TWA flight 800 in 1996 and the fallout afterward. We follow smuggler Trenlin Polenski ( Bron Boier ) as he moves from the lucrative but relatively innocuous transfer of illegal diamonds into the world of international conspiracy as the US government employs him in the fight against terrorism. Allegedly.

It’s important to add that word to any event depicted in the film as even the end credits—the typical “what happened to them?” segment that inevitably comes with films based on true stories—describe each character as “the real” so-and-so. That much should lead anyone to believe that we’ve spent the last two hours plus witnessing characters who were not real.

The biggest disappointment with the film is that there appears to be something of value buried underneath a wealth of flaws, the first and most noticeable of which is the budget. There’s no getting past the fact that the movie’s set design, lighting, and effects might be more appropriate for television. That much could be excused if not for other issues. A film limited by its budget requires a lean and mean structure coupled with ripping dialogue (think Aaron Sorkin ), not a meandering plot that does nothing to drive the story. Oftentimes, the path between point A and point B is confusing; oftentimes the entire trip feels unnecessary.

The acting is largely uninspired. Nearly every scene takes place in a small office environment that seems to have deadened the actors. The direction is all but non-existent, with the camera often lingering on actors post-conversation for some of the most awkward reactions shots I’ve seen outside of a soap opera.

Ultimately, there’s a story to tell here, but it isn’t one that should have been tackled by these filmmakers.

My advice: follow the CIA’s lead and skip this one.

Former husky model, real-life Comic Book Guy, genre-bending screenwriter, nude filmmaker, hairy podcaster, pro-wrestling idiot-savant, who has a penchant for solving Rubik's Cubes and rolling candy cigarettes on unreleased bootlegs of Frank Zappa records.

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Directed by Thomas Gulamerian

A surreptitious smuggler gets solicited by the CIA to help cover-up the Nicaraguan blackmail attempt on the CIA, after the release of "Dark Alliance", by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Gary Webb. - Karl Wachsmann

Udo Kier James C. Burns Bron Boier Richard Gleason Lee Shepherd Ben Van Bergen Chris Boas Jay Disney

Director Director

Thomas Gulamerian

Producers Producers

Thomas Gulamerian Brian David

Writer Writer

Cinematography cinematography.

Mark Conrad Alkiewicz

Art Direction Art Direction

Chris X. Carroll

International Artists Agency

Alternative Titles

The Client, 信徒X

Releases by Date

22 oct 2016, releases by country.

138 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by george the beast ½

the movie shows what you have to do if you watch it, right in the beginning, watch it only if you have a gun on your head and your life depnds on it or something, i have no idea why this thing is out there!!

Review by tristan

THE FIRST TWENTY MINUTES IS A GUY PUTTING A PASSPORT IN HIS BUTTHOLE

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‘Courier-X’ is a Wannabe Conspiracy Thriller That Should Be Redacted

Part of having an intense belief in a massive conspiracy theory typically means piecing together loose threads of information and using your imagination to piece them all together. It doesn’t make sense to outsiders not privy to the various players and information, but that corkboard with yarn connecting all the dots only makes sense to the one constructing it. That’s the only explanation for the inept paranoid thriller Courier-X , the film from writer-director Thomas Gulamerian that aims to blow the lid off the CIA’s involvement in the drug trade and their role in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996. This low budget wannabe paranoid thriller spins its wheels for over two hours, featuring subplots that make no sense in service of a massive conspiracy that also makes no sense.

The most inventive aspect of Courier-X is the tagline employed in the marketing materials. “The film the CIA tried to stop,” the posters declared. It’s meant to make this completely bland and uninteresting movie somewhat controversial. It’s obvious that even the most shadowy forces of the CIA have bigger things to worry about than amateurish movies portraying the agency as irredeemably nefarious.

Courier-X revolves around a diamond smuggler, the CIA, ex-lovers, the mob, and leaders of underground forces in foreign lands. Trenlin Polenski ( Bron Boier ) travels the globe under various aliases. He has a drawer full of different passports and money which he uses to travel to different lands to pick up diamonds for Ivan ( Ben Van Bergen ) and Nathan Vogel ( Udo Kier ), the latter being a former agent in the East German Stassi. Meanwhile, agents at the CIA, including agents Walter Broadnax ( James C. Burns ) and Jack Mitchell ( Richard Gleason ) as well as Director James Hatch ( Lee Shepherd ) are trying to suppress an article by journalist Gary Webb ( Jay Disney ) that will document the CIA’s connection in the drug trade. For reasons that the film never makes entirely clear, the CIA goes through painstaking preparation to blow up TWA Flight 800 – something having to do with secretive mob boss Joseph Cossi ( Gary Francis Hope ) and his supposed connections to terrorism.

Trenlin begins taking out loans from Joseph Cossi after he learns that the elderly owner of his local pizza joint is being shook down by the mobster’s thugs. At which point, the smuggler begins entering into international business deals with the mob, including real estate developments in India. The mob eventually seeks retribution against Trenlin and kidnaps his ex-girlfriend Eva ( Iva Stelmak ), but that’s all resolved by the CIA when they need Trenlin’s services to secure some valuable documents. For two hours and fifteen minutes, Courier-X ping pongs between all of these disparate storylines hoping that some of that yarn on its corkboard of movie will make sense to the viewer. It never does cohere as everything seems to be obfuscated by the inept construction of its writer-director.

There’s no real visual style to Courier-X unless overwhelming incompetence counts as a visual style. This is a movie that has the look of a webseries. The film also has no intent in attempting to recreate the look of the mid-‘90s, with a lot of the technology more befitting of modern times than a time when dial-up was the main way to access the internet. The acting is wooden as is the wretched dialogue. Yet Courier-X is never bad enough to be entertaining in its incompetence, though there’s ample humor to be found in the cheap office buildings that are supposed to be the CIA Headquarters.

There’s no redeeming aspects to Courier-X . At the end of its ridiculously long convoluted plot, there’s nothing left to ask except “What in the hell was the point of that?” Say what you will about InfoWars , at least they have some production values behind their paranoid nonsense. The fatal flaw for Courier-X , aside from its inept writing, directing, and acting, is the fact that it just contains too many pointless threads that lead anywhere. You’d be better off watching Kill the Messenger if you want insight into the work of journalist Gary Webb – that film is merely okay but at least it has a beginning, middle, and end. Typically one can look a conspiracy theory and pick apart the leaps made to connect all the dots. With Courier-X the dots aren’t even connected so trying to pick apart its conspiracy is a fool’s errand. This is a movie that should’ve been heavily redacted before reaching the screen. Maybe the CIA tried to stop this movie as a public service.

• Overall Score

An astoundingly inept wannabe conspiracy thriller, Courier-X spins its wheels for well over two hours without ever once making a compelling movie or a coherent story.

About The Author

This here writing represents a symbol of Sean Mulvihill's individuality, and his belief in personal freedom. He's also a hack writer who drinks too much and falls in love with girls.

Sean, Crawl back into your bottle…

Spot-on review. I stumbled upon Courier X while looking up The Courier, featuring Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch, and watched it after seeing the latter. While Mr. Cumberbatch’s film was a stellar performance in a very compelling tale based on a true story, Courier X was an absolute antithesis with its horribly slow pace, patchwork plot, amateurish acting on everyone’s part, and a ridiculously childish handling of a conspiracy-based foundation for a storyline. I couldn’t even finish the film, it was that bad. This movie looks and feels like a film school final project that was crammed together on the night before it was due.

i thought the movie was great fun. i am not really interested in conspiracy theories, only those alleged by some dishonest federal agencies running msm interference for the Obama-Biden Deep State!?

Given the world of 2020, this film is not only relevant but prophetic. If the critic expects everything spelled out for him then he needs to read the 50 reading school text -“See Spot run” I found nothing so vague in this it did not prompt me to look harder for the underlying story within the story. Ella Cradock

I’m hoping that my feelings make their way to Mr. Mulvihill. Albeit several years after his review of the movie Courier X, I find compelled to respond. Seriously? Now I read your review pretty quickly and it was so wordy probably didn’t read all of it but it appears as though that you did now do not believe the Iran Contra/drug money funding guns to the Nicaraguans, did not actually happen. And if it did it was not perpetrated by our lovely government? And I use the term loosely. The TWA 800 killing of all of those innocent people. Any single finding that has come to light in all of these years is as simple as 2+2. I mean nobody can come up with anything and everything everybody says in terms of Senate hearings and investigative journalism leads to the perfect US government made storm. I’m not 100% about the 800 Explosion but there is no doubt in my mind and in millions of other minds across the world that the Iran-Contra embarrassing immoral mess that our government was involved in actually freaking happened. I hope over the years you have become better informed-given that you are still doing movie reviews. Good day BTW- I thought the acting and choppiness of her your ex was definitely a downer. But the subject matter with flight TWA and the governments involvement was right on the money.

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• A smuggler of black market merchandise is solicited by the CIA for deleterious involvement with Flight TWA 800 and to cover up a Nicaraguan blackmail attempt on the agency.
• A surreptitious smuggler gets solicited by the CIA to help cover-up the Nicaraguan blackmail attempt on the CIA, after the release of "Dark Alliance", by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Gary Webb. — Karl Wachsmann
• An events based drama showcasing the affairs of a surreptitious smuggler of black market merchandise, working for a former member of the German Stasi, along with his CIA solicited and deleterious involvement with Flight TWA 800 and his aided cover-up of the Nicaraguan blackmail attempt on the CIA, after the release of Dark Alliance, by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Gary Webb.

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Courier X (2016)

Genre: drama, duration: 138 minuten, country: united states, directed by: thomas gulamerian, stars: udo kier , james c. burns and bron boier, imdb score: 5,7  (226), releasedate: 22 october 2016.

This movie is not available on UK streaming services.

Courier X plot

Trenlin Polenski is a clever smuggler who works for a retired member of the East German police. He is recruited by the CIA to secretly help them down a plane. As the CIA tries to cover their tracks, another problem arises: An article is released over the Internet, accusing the CIA of drug smuggling. Again they enlist Trenlin's help.

Actors and actresses

Nathan Vogel

Walter Broadnax

Trenlin Polenski

Jack Mitchell

James Hatch

Oliver Wickie

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Trailer Courier X

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The Courier – Netflix Review (3/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | May 10, 2024 | 4 minutes

THE COURIER on Netflix is a Spanish crime thriller (org. title: El Correo ) based on true events. It’s essentially about fraud and money laundering. A solid history lesson about the past decades of economic struggles. Read our The Courier (2024) movie review here!

THE COURIER is a new Netflix crime thriller from Spain. The original Spanish title is El correo and it’s based on true events. In fact, throughout the movie, the story is intersected with real news footage. Just to emphasize that the crimes shown in the movie – no matter how crazy and wild – aren’t that far fetched.

The runtime is right around 100 minutes, and while some things are repetitive (the partying mostly), it’s an intriguing look at the financial situation in Spain from 1992 and up to 2010 primarily. Definitely worth checking out on Netflix and full of familiar faces if you’re follow Spanish film and TV production.

Continue reading our 2024 The Courier movie review below. Find it on Netflix from May 10, 2024.

A trip around Europe

While this is a Spanish movie (org. title:  El correo ), the story plays out mostly across several European cities. Brussels in Belgium, and Geneva in Switzerland, especially – along with Madrid and Marbella in Spain. It’s a history lesson in corruption and the severe economic struggle Spain has been through for decades.

However, the movie also has one element in Hong Kong, which is where the movie opens before going back to tell the full story of how the title character of The Courier ended up there.

While the actual story begins in 1992 with both the Olympics and the Expo being in Barcelona, the following year was a huge blow for Spain. That’s when Iván Márquez ( Arón Piper ) first sees the impact of money on his own family. They go from thriving to struggling in the span of just one year.

A history lesson in corruption

We then jump to the year 2002, which is when Spain enters the Euro. Iván is now a young man and we see the switch from pesetas to Euros through the eyes of young people, who still feel like they’re getting screwed over. And they are, for the most part, but by their own government and elected officials.

This is a time of opportunities, for the smart ones, which means those who have no trouble robbing the poor to line their own pockets just a bit more.

Iván is just a young man from Vallecas, but he wants more out of life than just getting by. As a valet at a luxurious golf club in Madrid, he spots an opportunity to get in with some powerful people and grab at it with both hands. Before the next day is over, he has become a Belgian courier for an international organization.

This organization is dedicated to money laundering, so Ivan starts transporting suitcases to Brussels and Geneva. Of course, Iván doesn’t just want to be the courier, so he keeps looking for ways to advance in the business.

It turns out his own native Spanish area of the Costa del Sol is swimming in dirty money, so it’s the next place he needs to exploit. No more than any of the many construction businessmen, corrupt politicians, bankers, sportsmen, and even the Chinese mafia.

Basically, Ivan just wants his share of the cake and couldn’t care less who he hurts in the process. Money is like a virus, he states without much emotion. And this illustrates perfectly that you should not expect any of the characters to be likable. They’re all scum – just from different backgrounds.

Watch The Courier  on Netflix now!

Daniel Calparsoro ( The Warning ) is the director of The Courier / El correo  on Netflix, where the screenplay comes from Alejo Flah and Patxi Amezcua ( Infiesto ).

At its core, this is the story of how crime doesn’t pay. However, it also shows that it can take a while to get caught and for some people, it’s worth the brief moment of life in excess. While I was not a fan of the many undressed scenes, which were quite repetitive, I can certainly acknowledge that this was part of what drove Ivan.

The cast features Arón Piper ( Muted , Elite , The Mess You Leave Behind ) in the title role, but you’ll see many other familiar actors throughout. From Luis Tosar ( The Minions of Midas ), Stefan Weinert ( Jaguar ), and José Manuel Poga ( Infiesto ) to Luis Zahera ( Xtreme ) and Nourdin Batan ( 30 Coins ).

I would definitely recommend that you check out this Spanish crime thriller (org. title: El Correo ) for  both  the actual movie and the important history lesson. After all, if we don’t remember what happened in the past, we are doomed to repeat it. As shown here, repetition seems neverending because the crime happens in secret.

The Courier (2024) is on Netflix from May 10, 2024.

Director: Daniel Calparsoro Writers: Patxi Amezcua, Alejo Flah Stars: Arón Piper, María Pedraza, Luis Tosar, José Manuel Poga, Laura Sepul, Nourdin Batan

After shrewdly seizing his chance to join a money-laundering scheme, a modest valet dives into a world of fast cash, fast cars — and an inevitable crash.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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“The Courier” will evoke memories of prior spy movies and the tropes they often employ. More specifically, you may be reminded of the superior Cold War-era spy-swapping 2015 film, “ Bridge of Spies .” Both films are based on real events and have Russian spies, imprisoned agents, and a swap between Russia and the West. Here, however, the swap is not an integral part of the main story, and the Russian spy is working for MI6 and the CIA. As in Spielberg’s film, this is a meditation on the individual cost of doing something not for personal gain but for the common good. There’s a whole set of cinematic clichés that come with stories like that, and adding them to this mix risks overcrowding. But cliché is not a bad thing if it’s done right, especially if they involve characters to root for and a fair amount of high stakes to overcome.

Director Dominic Cooke and screenwriter Tom O’Connor tell the “based on true events” story of Greville Wynne ( Benedict Cumberbatch ). Wynne was a British businessman who, from 1960 and 1962, smuggled thousands of pieces of intel out of Russia before he was captured, imprisoned, and tortured for two years by the KGB. Assisting him in his role as “courier” is Oleg Penkovsky ( Merab Ninidze ), a far more experienced Russian agent. Wynne’s role as a salesman who works his magic on Eastern European clients makes him a good smuggler; as a Brit, he’s assumed to be a purely capitalist creature whose only concern is money. Couple that with his superb talent for schmoozing and boozing with customers, and he emerges as someone who’s neither suspicious nor a potential danger to Soviet security.

Wynne is surprised to be recruited by MI6’s Dickie Franks ( Angus Wright ) who, along with CIA agent Emily Donovan ( Rachel Brosnahan ), convinces him to meet with Penkovsky, because any intel will help President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She assures him he’ll be safe. Initially, Wynne turns them down because the entire idea seems incredulous. He has no formal training. Plus, he’s a family man with a precocious young son, Andrew (Keir Hills) and a loving, forgiving wife, Sheila ( Jessie Buckley ). Sheila’s pardoning nature revealed itself after Wynne took those dirty jokes about traveling salesmen to heart. Sudden trips to Moscow, frequent trips he can’t tell his wife about in any regard, are bound to arouse her suspicions about new infidelities.

“The Courier” makes the connection that Wynne’s job of “making the clients happy” has the same thespian qualities of being a spy: He is playing a role, one that requires him to hide his true feelings and present a specific, carefully calibrated, unflappable front. Penkovsky reassures him that he’s handling the job well. As the two family men spend more time together, their guards lower and the two become close friends. Cumberbatch and Ninidze do a very good job conveying their newfound bond, which helps the viewer swallow the unbelievable decision that sets the second half of the film in motion.

The first hour, which focuses on the existing and budding human relationships in England and in Russia, plays better than the prison-bound second hour. There’s a sweet, realistic dynamic between Sheila and Greville. Buckley gives an excellent performance that carries her over to the predictable moment when she has to pivot to the strong spouse cautiously awaiting the return of her husband. Of course, she’s convinced Greville is cheating when she catches him exercising more than he’s ever done, not to mention that he’s trying new things he’s never considered before in bed. Buckley handles this with the right touch of bemusement and forcefulness, warning that she won’t be so understanding if there’s another woman. Her best scene is when she realizes the true nature of her husband’s secrecy, and how she may never have the chance to tell him she’s sorry for not trusting him

We also spend time with Penkovsky and his wife and daughter. Their scenes are just as loving as the Wynnes’, but they’re tinged with more danger. Penkovsky is a decorated former soldier with many security clearances, and as he tells Wynne, everyone in Russia has eyeballs that surveil for the state. One can easily predict that Penkovsky’s espionage work will catch up with him, but it’s a bumpier road to believing that Wynne would risk life and limb to go back in to try and help him defect. Once he’s captured, “The Courier” loses steam as it isolates its main character for violent prison scenes that we’ve seen endless times before. Those sequences culminate in a jail cell reunion between Penkovsky and Wynne that’s memorable because it wears its empathy like a sentimental badge of honor.

Though there’s nothing new or transformative here, “The Courier” stays afloat due to the acting by Buckley, Cumberbatch, and Ninidze. Unfortunately, Brosnahan’s performance is flat. Her character feels completely out of place here, as if Donovan were thrown in to inject an American into a very British story. Her one big scene, where she tries to terrify Wynne by describing the four minutes he’d have if a nuke were heading for London, is unconvincing and doesn’t have the reverse psychology effect the film thinks it does. I was a bit surprised that “The Courier” worked for me as well as it did, and I must give some credit to Sean Bobbitt ’s moody cinematography and Abel Korzeniowski ’s engaging score. Their work gave the illusion that this film could have been made in the timeframe it is set. That sealed the deal for me.

Odie Henderson

Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire  here .

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The Courier (2021)

Rated PG-13 for violence, partial nudity, brief strong language, and smoking throughout.

111 minutes

Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne

Merab Ninidze as Oleg Penkovsky

Rachel Brosnahan as Emily Donovan

Jessie Buckley as Sheila Wynne

Angus Wright as Dickie Franks

Kirill Pirogov as Gribanov

• Dominic Cooke
• Tom O'Connor

Cinematographer

• Sean Bobbitt
• Tariq Anwar
• Gareth C. Scales
• Abel Korzeniowski

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‘The Courier’ Review: Secrets and Spies

Benedict Cumberbatch plays a salesman-turned-secret agent in this stuffy Cold War drama.

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

“The Courier,” a true life-based spy thriller set in the early 1960s — and staged to appeal to audiences old enough to have lived through them — stubbornly resists involving or affecting us until it’s almost over. By that time, though, you might have fallen asleep.

Ideally, that shouldn’t happen while watching two stand-up guys — one British, one Russian — perhaps narrowly prevent a nuclear apocalypse. But the director, Dominic Cooke (whose 2018 feature debut, “On Chesil Beach,” touchingly conveyed the tragedy of broken intimacy), is either unable to generate tension or simply chooses not to. The Cuban Missile Crisis might loom in the background, but we barely sense its menace as Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), an unremarkable English salesman, is enlisted as an intermediary between MI6 (in the form of a suave Angus Wright) and a Soviet officer named Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze).

With its wood-paneled rooms and pluming cigarette smoke, “The Courier” is espionage cinema at its most decorous. Disappointingly, no one is karate-chopping or transforming fountain pens into tiny daggers. (Instead, they have lunch and attend the ballet.) Wynne, we are told, must be given a crash course in tradecraft before accepting Soviet secrets, but Tom O’Connor’s stolid script is actively antithetical to such excitement. We need a montage!

Though Jessie Buckley, as Wynne’s suspicious wife, and Rachel Brosnahan, as an amusingly pushy C.I.A. operative, add welcome jolts of female energy, “The Courier” is essentially the story of an extraordinary male friendship. The men’s mutual compassion peaks too late to save the picture, but is no less moving for that.

The Courier Rated PG-13 for a bit of violence and a blink-and-you-miss-it bedroom scene. Running time: 1 hour 51 minutes. In theaters. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.

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The Courier review – Benedict Cumberbatch’s salesman spy is no Smiley

Cumberbatch has it all to do in this slow-paced, real-life tale of 60s Soviet espionage directed by Dominic Cooke

T he real-life story of salesman turned spy Greville Wynne is loosely adapted into this cold war drama that combines plenty of the ingredients for a first-class espionage thriller but doesn’t quite deliver. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Wynne, an adequately successful British businessman with a weakness for booze who finds himself a courier for and a friend to high-level Soviet informer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze).

Royal Court theatre alumnus and film-maker Dominic Cooke ( On Chesil Beach ) directs, dressing the story in a suitably ominous colour palette and capturing the oppressive sense of lives surveilled. But with slack pacing and insufficient focus, the film lacks the crackle of tension and propulsive efficiency of something like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy .

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From 'The Iron Claw' to 'The Idea of You,' here are 10 movies you need to stream right now

Sure, you could surprise your mom with a trip to the movie theater to see some smart apes or Ryan Gosling . But if she'd rather spend Mother's Day hanging at home – and she loves movies, too – there are plenty of options to make the holiday entertaining.

Netflix, Amazon's Prime Video, Peacock, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and others boast all sorts of streaming films for fans with various tastes, from comedy and horror to an Anne Hathaway double feature. There are recent theatrical releases like Zac Efron's buzzy pro wrestling drama , a restored 1970 Beatles movie available for the first time in decades, plus a slew of original flicks such as  Jerry Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts movie , a new film adaptation of a John Green book and a return to the film world for Brooke Shields, in a Netflix flick perfect for moms of all stripes.

Here are 10 notable new movies you can stream right now:

'The American Society of Magical Negroes'

Yarn sculptor Aren (Justice Smith) is recruited by wise mentor Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret organization of Black agents whose mission is to keep white people comfortable, and Aren's first assignment turns messy when love gets in the way of the job. It's a satirical take on the "magical negro" trope that makes some points about race and culture before losing its way (and any sort of bite) when the film turns into a predictable rom-com.

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Where to watch: Peacock .

'The Book of Clarence'

An entertaining blast rather than being blasphemous, the biblical epic stars LaKeith Stanfield as the title character, a weed dealer in Jerusalem circa A.D. 33 who sees the respect Jesus gets and touts himself as "the new messiah." Directed by Jeymes Samuel ("The Harder They Fall"), it's a bold, thought-provoking retelling of the resurrection story through the lens of Black culture that anyone can relate to, believer or not.

Where to watch: Netflix .

Like "Carol" painted with some noir-ish shades, the 1960s-set thriller casts Thomasin McKenzie as the title character, a mousy secretary at a Boston boys prison who lives at home with an abusive dad (Shea Whigham) drinking himself to death. Eileen gets a pick-me-up at work with the arrival of sophisticated psychologist Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), who pulls the fragile younger woman into unfortunate circumstances.

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'The Idea of You'

There's a bit of a "Notting Hill" vibe to this rom-com starring Hathaway as 40-year-old divorced mom Solène, who reluctantly takes her teen daughter to Coachella and inadvertently meets – and sparks a spicy romance with – Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), lead singer of a popular boy band. It's a lot more serious and emotionally wrought than you might expect, but Hathaway nails her character's layered nuance as Solène's relationship goes viral.

Where to watch: Prime Video .

'The Iron Claw'

A very ripped (and amazing) Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson play members of the Von Erich pro wrestling dynasty in this gripping 1980s-set biopic. Raised by their ex-wrestler father (Holt McCallany), the Von Erichs find success in the ring while navigating a series of tragic losses outside it in director Sean Durkin's touching story of Americana mixed with sibling rivalry, parental pressure and brutal despair.

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'Let It Be'

For Beatles fans or music lovers in general who've just never seen it, Michael Lindsay-Hogg's restored 1970 documentary is a fascinating, candid look at the Fab Four recording the "Let It Be" album, bickering, goofing off and also creating timeless gems. Not as exhaustive or drama-filled as Peter Jackson's "Get Back" docuseries – which pulled from Lindsay-Hogg's wealth of footage – it's still a groovy watch of musical geniuses at work.

Where to watch: Disney+ .

'Mother of the Bride'

It's nice to see Brooke Shields still relevant, and as a lead in a rom-com no less. ("Suddenly Susan" hive, rise up!) But this cheeseball affair is only for Shields completists: The actress plays a famous geneticist whose daughter (Miranda Cosgrove) drops the bomb that she's suddenly getting married, and then the protective mom finds out at the destination wedding in Thailand that the father of the groom is her college ex (Benjamin Bratt).

'Prom Dates'

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Where to watch: Hulu , Disney+ .

'Turtles All the Way Down'

Adaptations of John Green's young adult novels (including "The Fault in Our Stars") have been a mixed bag, but this one's the best if just for its effectiveness in capturing mental health struggles. Aza (Isabela Merced) dreams of going to college, has ride-or-die pal Daisy (Cree) in her corner and reconnects with camp friend Davis (Felix Mallard), though her crippling OCD – and fear of germs and infection – is a constant threat to foil each one.

'Unfrosted'

Jerry Seinfeld's delightfully ridiculous directorial debut explores the origins of Pop-Tarts with an extremely silly not-so-true story and tons of gags and cameos. The comedian and Melissa McCarthy play Kellogg's employees tasked in 1963 with creating a toaster pastry before their competitors, a processed food spin on the space race that also involves a milk mafia, disgruntled breakfast cereal mascots and a heap of nostalgia.

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Netflix: Movies with 'The Courier' star Maria Pedraza to stream

T he talented Spanish actress María Pedraza has garnered attention for her compelling performances on both the big and small screens. Born on January 26, 1996, in Madrid, Pedraza initially gained recognition for her work as a dancer before transitioning into acting.

She first rose to prominence with her role as Alison Parker in the Spanish heist crime drama series “Money Heist” (La Casa de Papel), which became a global phenomenon on Netflix , as well as other series on the platform such as “Elite” and “Toy Boy.”

However, her latest film, “The Courier,” has also become one of the most-watched movies on the platform worldwide. But, if you want to watch her in other interesting performances, you can check out these movies, which are also available on Netflix.

All of Maria Pedraza’s movies on Netflix

Who would you take to a deserted island (2019).

This is a dramatic coming-of-age film directed by Jota Linares, and starring Pedraza, Pol Monen, Jamie Lorente, and Andrea Ros. The movie follows four close friends who live together in an apartment in Madrid. However, when one of them announces plans to move to Paris, they will be forced to confront unresolved tensions and feelings.

The film, which premiered at the at the 22nd Málaga Film Festival , received mixed reviews, with praise for its performances and emotional depth but criticism for its pacing and lack of narrative cohesion. Pedraza’s portrayal of Marta garnered particular acclaim for its authenticity and vulnerability.

Amar (2017)

In this romantic drama, directed by Esteban Crespo , Pedraza stars opposite Pol Monen as Laura and Carlos, two teenagers who are deeply in love. However, they have to confront the challenges of growing up, as well as their family’s expectations and own insecurities.

The film received positive reviews for its honest portrayal of young love, as well as the chemistry between the lead actors and stunning cinematography. Monen earned nominations for Best Actor at the Goya Awards.

Dancing on Glass (2022)

In “Dancing on Glass,” Pedraza reunites with Jota Linares. She also showcases her dancing skills, as she plays a ballerina who gets a lead role, but can’t deal with the pressure that comes with it. However, she will form a relationship with an outcast dancer to find her own rhythm.

The Spanish drama received mixed reviews, with many praising the portrayals of Pedraza and Paula Losada, but finding the film too familiar. Especially as the tropes of the pressures in the world of dance have been retold many times before.

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