Peter Devereaux, The November Man (Pierce Brosnan)

In the spirited vernacular on the street, “alright now Pierce Brosnan! Go’on with yo’ bad self! You wear it well–age ‘n all!” Brosnan ably carries the cinematic load (yes, load) as Peter Devereaux, a retired CIA agent, in Roger Donaldson’s espionage thriller The November Man. Devereaux is pulled out of retirement by a “friend” Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) who makes known to Devereaux that his former lover, Natalia (Mediha Musliovic), is in trouble and asks for him to come to Belgrade and help her out.

Set in Russia and Romania, the movie is a rough and tumble spy-thriller in a creaky used European vehicle full of spies, car chases, shoot-outs, a neo-cold war, murder, rape, and brutal assassins. Luke Bracey plays Mason, Devereaux’s protégé, and his performance barely moves beyond surfer-dude-on-vacation–he is out of his league! It is as if he signed on for a game of paint-ball on a putt-putt golf course. Ridiculous, yes? His motivation to ‘turn’ on his mentor is so weak that it goes to the ‘what for?’ or the ‘really?’

Natalia (Mediha Musliovic)

The script written by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek, certainly needed a second glance from an editor. Of course, Hollywood just had to go for the May-December pairing of Devereaux with Alice (Olga Kurylenko), the girl–oh, excuse me, the young woman who has the information that could get her killed. Tch. So unnecessary, especially since he and Natalia were a perfect fit! While I’m at it, what took so long to relay to the audience why Devereaux is called the ‘November Man’?

While I’m still at it, see the visual on the right with Mason crashing through the door? Sexy, huh? He’s there to save Devereaux’s daughter, Lucy (Tara Jevrosimovic). Well, remember John Shaft’s (Richard Roundtree) crash through the window to save Bumpy Johnson’s daughter? Same action only Shaft did it better–way better! Yes, I’m talking about Shaft! (I could not help myself!)

If you can wait for The November Man to come out on DVD or is available for streaming. If you are a Pierce Brosnan fan, go to the theater. He’s worth the time and the money.

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