Businessman Greville Wynne is asked by a Russian source to try to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.Businessman Greville Wynne is asked by a Russian source to try to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.Businessman Greville Wynne is asked by a Russian source to try to help put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Mariya Mironova
- Vera
- (as Maria Mironova)
David Bark-Jones
- Golf Exec
- (as David Bark Jones)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaScreenwriter Tom O'Connor found out as much as he could about Greville Wynne and Oleg Penkovsky. Their relationship is mentioned in several books but only in fragments. "There's enough to understand the basics," O'Connor stated. "A lot of the events were and remain classified, and so sometimes, finding out what exactly happened was a challenge because there is active misinformation being put out by both sides. People don't necessarily want everything on-the-record."
- GoofsIn a panoramic shot of Moscow, Wynne walks along the embankment opposite the building of the Ministry of Defense. Although it was built in 1951, a late 2014 annex with two-headed eagles on the friezes is visible. In Soviet times, two-headed eagles were a symbol of czarism and under no circumstances could they appear on an official building in the center of Moscow.
- Quotes
Oleg Penkovsky: Greville, we are only two people. But this is how things change.
- Crazy creditsVintage news footage of the real Greville Wynne is shown before the end credits.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Movies of 2021 (So Far) (2021)
Featured review
Excellent film based on a true story
The Courier (2020) is an English movie directed by Dominic Cooke. The film takes place during the height of the Cold War.
It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne, a middle-class mid-level British business man. Oleg Penkovsky, portrayed by Mereb Ninindze, is a high-ranking Soviet official who knows that there's a real chance of nuclear war.
British intelligence recruits Wynne to make a connection with Penkovsky. His job will be to bring back important information that will help the western powers. Rachel Brosnahan portrays a U. S. CIA agent who is working with British intelligence.
The film succeeds or fails on the work of Cumberbatch. He's a superb actor, and the movie falls into place on the basis of his acting. (In fairness, he's such a competent actor that I had a little trouble accepting him as a less-than-competent businessman.) Ninindze does good work, but I had trouble accepting Brosnahan as a CIA agent. (Mrs. Maisel, yes. CIA, no.) For the record, I also had trouble with the basic assumption that the CIA agents were the good guys.
This movie provides an intense, claustrophobic experience. It's very well done, but at the other end of the spectrum from James Bond spy movies. We saw this film on the small screen, where it worked well. It has a barely adequate IMDb rating of 7.1. I thought that it was better than that, and rated it 8.
It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Greville Wynne, a middle-class mid-level British business man. Oleg Penkovsky, portrayed by Mereb Ninindze, is a high-ranking Soviet official who knows that there's a real chance of nuclear war.
British intelligence recruits Wynne to make a connection with Penkovsky. His job will be to bring back important information that will help the western powers. Rachel Brosnahan portrays a U. S. CIA agent who is working with British intelligence.
The film succeeds or fails on the work of Cumberbatch. He's a superb actor, and the movie falls into place on the basis of his acting. (In fairness, he's such a competent actor that I had a little trouble accepting him as a less-than-competent businessman.) Ninindze does good work, but I had trouble accepting Brosnahan as a CIA agent. (Mrs. Maisel, yes. CIA, no.) For the record, I also had trouble with the basic assumption that the CIA agents were the good guys.
This movie provides an intense, claustrophobic experience. It's very well done, but at the other end of the spectrum from James Bond spy movies. We saw this film on the small screen, where it worked well. It has a barely adequate IMDb rating of 7.1. I thought that it was better than that, and rated it 8.
helpful•321
- Red-125
- Oct 19, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ironbark
- Filming locations
- Prague, Czech Republic(USSR scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,613,432
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,885,829
- Mar 21, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $26,001,227
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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![Merab Ninidze, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessie Buckley, and Rachel Brosnahan in The Courier (2020)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTJlOTIwNjItYjZiMS00Njc3LThkMDgtNWVhNGUxNzBlYWE3XkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,2,90,133_.jpg)