The Courier 4K 2020

In the early 60s of the last century, the world was on the verge of a new major conflict. Everything went to the fact that the strengthened Soviet Union and the uncompromising United States could come together in a confrontation that could well turn into a Third World War. The situation escalated to the limit when Soviet nuclear missiles were deployed to Cuba, and the United States considered it its duty to take a retaliatory step. As we know, at the cost of incredible diplomatic efforts, open hostilities were avoided, but few actually thought about who exactly helped to sort out the conflict. All attention was directed to Khrushchev and Kennedy, while two much lower ranked men, a British and a Russian, made their invaluable contribution to resolving the problem, the consequences of which could be simply dire.

So, at the head of the plot of the film "Spy Games" is Greville Wynn (Benedict Cumberbatch), a fairly successful British businessman who, due to his work, travels to different countries of the world. Wynn has charisma, his speeches are full of ardor and passion, thanks to which he manages to establish successful connections and use them for his own good. And such a feature of Wynn was noticed by the British special services, who decided to make the businessman their secret agent.

Greville Wynn's task is to systematically visit Moscow, where he must obtain important information and transmit it to London. Wynne's key contact becomes GRU Colonel Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), who decided to share invaluable materials with Western countries in exchange for the opportunity to leave the USSR and live a quiet, calm life abroad. And everything seems to be going on as usual, Wynn and Penkovsky are in close contact, but the Soviet special services are also not sleeping and are looking more and more closely at the British guest. Meanwhile, the Cuban missile crisis is gaining momentum, in which our heroes are directly involved.

The filmmakers tell their story in an intriguing and dynamic manner, with particular emphasis on documentary content. To recreate the long-gone era of the Cold War, director Dominic Cook had to do a serious job, together with the scriptwriter to delve into the archives and do everything necessary so that no viewer felt a catch and said - yes, this is the beginning of the 60s, there is no doubt about it ... So the historical stylization is beyond praise here.

In addition, I would like to especially note the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch, who needs no additional introduction. Cumberbatch plays in a balanced and light-hearted manner, and it is a pleasure to follow his work. The actor tries to present his character to us as a little eccentric and at the same time strong-willed and, if possible, fearless. It was interesting for me to follow Greville Wynn and in many ways it was this character that made the film so fun.