Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan,), a lethal and highly trained ex-CIA agent is lured out of retirement from Switzerland for one more job to get the name of a witness that could bring a future Russian presidential candidate, Anton Federov.   He must protect Alice (Olga Kurylenko) who may know where the witness named Mira is from both a Russian hit woman and his former ex-protégé David Mason (Luke Bracey).    

 

THE NOVEMBER MAN is based on the seventh novel in the November Man series called There Are No Spies.  Brosnan is back as a retied spy in a world where you won’t see James Bond mired in the choices that Devereaux makes.  He takes things personal and he doesn’t care about the CIA’s game to control people to control the geo-political situation.   THE NOVEMBER MAN has some layers and twists to it which makes me wish they could make another movie based on the books (but not likely due to the poor box office performance and uneven reviews).   I think it is a good counterpoint for Pierce Brosnan compared to the James Bond films he was in.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

THE MAKING OF THE NOVEMBER MAN is a ten minute promotion making-of featurette that goes over why they chose the seventh book in the series to adapt, updating it for today, and using drones to get some close above camera shots.

 

Also included on the disc are the theatrical trailer and previews for EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, BRICK MANSIONS, BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE DROP, 3 DAYS TO KILL, and LET’S BE COPS.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE NOVEMBER MAN is like an anti-James Bond film in a way which is good for a one time rental and even for fans of John Le Carre.  It paints the world where politics influences spying and the global picture where an ex-spy doesn’t give a damn about the bigger picture.  I wish they had more making-of extras, but I do hope they make more movies in THE NOVEMBER MAN series.

 

This review is ©11-29-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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