British and American spy officials were understandably eager to gather information from Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze, born in Georgia, also excellent), a senior Soviet officer who is increasingly alarmed by the willingness of leader Nikita Khrushchev to seek confrontation with the West. But they need a way to gain access to what Penkovsky knows, using someone “whom the KGB will not suspect” to collect their secrets.
They end up approaching Greville Wynne de Cumberbatch, a very sober family man who periodically travels to Moscow on business. “I’m just a salesman,” protests Wynne, and he looks genuinely concerned and apprehensive, before finally agreeing.
What follows, as directed by theater director Dominic Cooke from a script by Tom O’Connor, is a good deal of cover and sword tricks, with Penkovsky trying to reassure Wynne by telling him about the curious eyes about the two. , “I am better at this than they are.”
Meanwhile, Wynne must keep the entire operation a secret from his wife (Jessie Buckley), who becomes suspicious of his behavior, which includes more interest in fitness – and energy in the bedroom – than he previously had.
Cumberbatch is very good at portraying Wynne as an ordinary guy played in extraordinary circumstances, whose handlers of the MI-6 and the CIA (the latter played by Rachel Brosnahan from “The Wonderful Mrs. Maisel”) are concerned for his well-being, but still willing to put you in danger, thanks to the valuable information that Penkovsky is providing them.
The heart of the film, however, lies in the forged bond between the two central characters, whose loyalty and compassion for each other eclipses international borders and tensions, unfolding before the Cuban missile crisis as a serious reminder of the risks involved.
At that level, and at others, “The Courier” more than delivers.
“The Courier” opens on March 19 in theaters. It is classified as PG-13.