James R | On 04, Nov 2021

Director: Dominic Cooke
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Jessie Buckley
Certificate: 15

He likes a drink, knows what to say to get people to like him and is no stranger to flying about the globe on import/export business. No, he’s not James Bond; he’s someone much more pedestrian: a machine parts salesman called Greville Wynne. But in the 1960s, Wynne finds himself stepping into 007’s shoes, after MI6 and the CIA recruit him to become a courier between the Soviet Union and the West.

Why Wynne? Because he’s last person anyone would think of, and his line of business makes hopping in and out of the Iron Curtain a normal, everyday occurrence. Benedict Cumberbatch delivers one of the best performances in his career as Greville, a perfectly competent salesman but a distinctly average gentleman. After several gigs playing antisocial geniuses, this is a brilliant reminder that Cumberbatch is more versatile than that, and from his unsubtle moustache to his lack of polished composure, he transforms himself into this put-upon everyman with a decidedly understated presence.

And yet, despite his excited joking on his first assignment, there’s no doubting that Wynne is a good fit for espionage; he’s got years of training at handling his drink while wooing potential clients and hiding his true feelings. The only person who can see through him is his wife, Sheila, and Jessica Buckley brings far more depth to the role than there is on paper, as she suspects that he’s not being honest with her – and immediately fears a repeat of his previous infidelity.

While their marital tensions are immediately convincing, with both Buckley and Cumberbatch sporting poignantly stiff upper lips, the film’s masterstroke is to place the emphasis on the relationship that forms between Wynne and the Soviet informer who initiates the exchange of information, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze).

Ninidze is the perfect counterpart to Cumberbatch, playing things cool and calm but increasingly nervous, as his superiors begin to guess that something shady’s going on. Cumberbatch, meanwhile, is always performing for a crowd, but lets his facade slip in private – and the final act really steps up the intensity of his isolation to uncomfortable degrees.

But throughout their suspenseful, serious encounters shines a genuine sense of friendship and respect, and that sincere bond makes their attempts not only to survive but to keep each other safe heart-warming as well as nail-biting. Director Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) keeps the pace up amid the moody, shadowy sets, while writer Tom O’Connor gives the always-excellent Rachel Brosnahan a scene-stealing role in the form of CIA agent Emily, who is bravely doing the work behind the scenes to stop the Cold War heating up. Meanwhile, the Cuban Missile Crisis begins to loom, but is kept smartly off-screen: this is a spy thriller where the stakes are personal as much as political. Old-school James Bond could’ve learnt a thing or two.

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