This is a pretty decent historical drama. Primary setting of the movie is around the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Cumberbatch does a good job portraying an average Joe Schmoe who got wrapped up in playing a spy. I did learn a couple of new things - 1) that the whole Cuban Missile Crisis was exposed by these two men and 2) the price they paid for doing so.

How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!

This is much more better than I expected. It is strong and touchy. Benedict Cumberbatch's performance is outstanding. Recommended...

This was supposed to come out late 2019, then 2020 and finally it arrived in 2021. Worth the wait.

There is a bit of a movie in this propaganda. Why the hell Anglos are out here making anti-Soviet propaganda in 2020? Well, that’s the only war that they are allowed to portray because it’s ‘woke’. They have well and truly milked this setting dry. It would be cool if even one, just one, of these cold war spy movies that we get every two months was remotely interesting or unique. Because **The Courier** is so boring and slow, so painfully average, just a dull rerun of literally every US/UK political spy drama ever made. To the surprise of no one, there is no attempt to make the USSR anything but cartoonish and stupid.

I'm so over movies about Bri'ish exceptionalism. I’m waiting for them to make a movie about Richard Huckle … oh, wait, that would paint them in a bad color, it won’t happen.

Well... The Courier didn't really deliver. (_pun intended_)

Yes, Benedict Cumberbatch was outstanding. But it's nothing more than your average historical spy movie and Benedict couldn't save it.
How surprising to see this high rating comparable to The Spy Gone North's...

This is a good spy-thriller film of course. But the main problem I had was, throughout the movie, I didn't actually feel the gravity of danger the world's facing or even the risk they are facing doing something like this that much. But nevertheless, hat's off to Benedict's acting, this man is incredible.

Simply amazing. The cruelty of one side verses the kindness of the other. Loved the entire movie.

Best anti-communist movie in a very long time. Perhaps the best period.

Like a drunk duck, it starts off solid if nondescript until it waddles its way into the rose water.

Too bad, because Benedict Cumberbatch just wasted his extreme weight loss flick.

Excellent!

It's not quite 'Bridge of Spies', but 'The Courier' is too an awesome MI6/CIA/KGB infused flick. The two films tell tales regarding the Cold War, with the 2015 release narrowly a notch above this. Both have outstanding lead performances though.

Benedict Cumberbatch is magnificent throughout, especially towards the end - the bald look suits him incredibly well, I must say... need him in a drug kingpin sorta role looking like that! In all seriousness though, I think this is my favourite Cumberbatch performance (from what I've seen thus far) - utterly brilliant!

Merab Ninidze (also in BoS, albeit minorly) also puts in a top display, as he does in television's 'McMafia'. Jessie Buckley also gives a performance of note, which says a lot about her acting abilities given she doesn't feature all that heavily.

Astutely paced, builds terrific tension and features some cracking acting. Fantastic film!

The true story behind this movie is very interesting but it is lost in translation here. Cumberbatch is good but the movie is dry, stodgy, and not as gripping as it should have been.

A lot of talking and walking. I spent a lot of time noticing how the film was color corrected. I didn't make it to the end.

A spy story that is between boredom and brilliance. There is a character introduction in the first act that is weak. The relationship between Wynne and Penkovsky raises interest, is credible and exciting. But the third act shows the excellence of Benedict Cumberbatch, the expression of terror and despair in his eyes, deeper than the change in his physical appearance. And then "The courier" takes on another dimension.