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 The November Man 

What grade would you give this film?
A 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
B 100%  100%  [ 4 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 4

 The November Man 
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Let's Call It A Bromance
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Post The November Man
The November Man

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The November Man is a spy thriller film based on the novel There Are No Spies by Bill Granger, which is canonically the seventh installment in "The November Man" series of books, published in 1987. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, and Olga Kurylenko with the screenplay written by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek. The film is directed by Roger Donaldson, known for his most notable works Species, The Recruit and The Bank Job. He previously worked with Brosnan in Dante's Peak. Beau St. Clair once again teams up with Brosnan to co-produce the film.


Thu Aug 28, 2014 3:25 pm
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Pure Phase
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Post Re: The November Man
The November Man is a tad out-of-step, a tad out-of-date, and this is why it is a welcome entertainment. It casts Pierce Brosnan, over a decade after vacating the role of James Bond after the soul-crushing idiocy of Die Another Day, as Peter Devereaux, an exhausted CIA agent who retires after a disobeyed order during a tense operation results in the death of a child. In his absence, his gifted, but hotheaded protege, David Mason (Luke Bracey), rises in the agency. A reluctant Peter, living quietly in Switzerland, returns to action to help a friend on the run. This choice lands him in the midst of a deadly conspiracy revolving around an elusive female refugee with compromising knowledge of a devious general-turned-politician rising in power and influence in Moscow. Peter is also pit against his former student. A series of double-, triple-, and even quadruple-crosses ensue as various agents, assassins, and power-minded political players circle one another.

Even in briefly describing the plot, The November Man reveals veins of unoriginality, not least of which is a storyline set in motion by an old pro returning from retirement for one final job, perhaps the most dangerous he has ever faced. However, there is a certain potent charm to the way the film embraces an old-fashioned idea of espionage action. There is pleasure in its grounded and practical car chases, shootouts, and street pursuits. There may not be big-budget spectacle, but there is muscular excitement in large quantities. The film, directed by Roger Donaldson (a salty veteran in his own right whose credits include The Bounty, Thirteen Days, and The Bank Job), is relaxed and comfortable in its aesthetic and in its unfolding of a storyline both riveting and borderline absurd in its extra-large catalog of betrayals and complications. Then there is the star: Brosnan, who has made a few rewarding career choices post-Bond, including his against-type role as a not-so-suave alcoholic hit man in the undervalued The Matador. Here, he once again slips into a mode reminiscent of 007, but with a harder edge, a more lined faced, and a script functioning as escapist popcorn fare without requiring him to romance a nuclear physicist played by Denise Richards or surf a glacier. It suits him well, and I doubt audiences will begrudge him this sturdily minor-key variation on a career-defining role.

B+

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Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:04 am
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Post Re: The November Man
This was actually incredibly entertaining and a delightful surprise. My rating was almost a B+ but the writing was pretty horrible and not realistic at all. Pierce Brosnan was decent but he got a lot of the horrible dialogue ("it was....... unfortunate") so he didn't fare the best but he looked like he was having a blast. Luke Bracey was a nice surprise here, he was great and I found he had the best character arc of the movie. He also was RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous, so that was nice. Olga Kurylenko was also very, very good. Overall, it was an entertaining, intense little action/thriller. If only it had better dialogue, it could have been great but as is, I recommend it.

B

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Tue Sep 09, 2014 5:03 pm
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Post Re: The November Man
This was fun and Luke Bracey was so hot in it. I hope they do make that sequel.

7/10 ( B )


Sat Nov 29, 2014 7:16 pm
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Post 
The November Man

Good film. Nothing spectacular but it was solid. Pierce as a ruthless ex-CIA man is always something worth seeing. It's basically a good European chase thriller with some convoluted political back story about Russians and the Chechen War. I didn't like how Brosnan's accomplice turns good at the end. That ruined it for me. Olga Kurylenko was good (and sexy) in her latest role in a career now littered with these Eastern-European female-nobody roles.

I still don't get why he's called "The November Man". The guy's explanation of that left me puzzled. "You know what we called you? 'The November Man', because everybody ends up dead", ok...but how does that link to November? Whatever. The film was a nice surprise. It pleasantly reminded me The Bourne Identity, but with worse dialogue.

B

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Sat Dec 06, 2014 8:03 am
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Let's Call It A Bromance
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Post Re: The November Man
Magnus wrote:
Brosnan is a beast. Olga is gorgeous. Rest is meh.


Pretty much this.


Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:24 pm
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