The November Man (2014)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Excellent adaptation.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The acting in this movie is really good.

It met slightly my expectations.The pace was good and there was enough suspense to keep my attention high. The story was not complicated and the performance of ex-James Bond Pierce Brosnan was fresh and respectable.The filming locations with Lausanne, Montenegro or Moscow gave this spy thriller a serious touch. In other words, if you have nothing special to do one evening this one is the perfect entertaining action movie. But it's not worth to see it again or hold it for example in my best of DVD collection.See therefore the trilogy of Taken or the Bourne series.Solid 6/10.

OK, it's not a "classic" spy film that you will want to watch over and over, but it's a decent thriller that has some interesting plot twists that kept me guessing. Pierce Brosnan tries to act like a jaded tough guy, but despite all the cussing he can't hide the urbanity and sophistication that made him the perfect Bond, so perhaps he was a bit miscast here, or he tries too hard to get away from that character. The David Mason character has perhaps the most development, someone with a heart that we can relate to. Like most films, there's lots of cannon fodder (how do these guys get their jobs if they're that bad?). Ultimately, the good guys come through and the bad guys get their comeuppances one way or another. My main complaint is that the right-hand henchman of the film doesn't get a proper Hollywood showdown; in fact, it's a major letdown. The top henchman should be the keynote fight for the protagonist, no? The ultimate test? Maybe the film makers deliberately tried to be different in this case. If so, they shouldn't have, as the viewer gets robbed of something you are naturally looking forward to. It's like the WWF without a main event. And also, one scene is more in-your-face than we need. We get it, stop hitting us in the head with a sledgehammer. (You will know what I mean.)

November Man (2014): Dir: Roger Donaldson / Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Olga Kurrylenko, Luke Bracey, Bill Smitrovich, Lazar Ristovski: The title is referenced through dialogue and it suggests that this CIA agent, played by Pierce Brosnan, finalizes all encounters with conflict. He plays Peter Devereaux, retired CIA after an assignment goes wrong when a young sniper fails to follow orders. He is called upon years later when sought after to bring another agent, a former lover whom he shares a daughter with, out of Moscow. She is out to expose a Russian politician who was a corrupt army general who forced girls into sex. They are in search of one girl in particular but in the process Devereaux and his ex are ambushed and she is killed. Enraged, he kills all the agents until coming face to face with the young recruit he trained in the film's opening. This is Roger Donaldson's best film since The Bank Job, and the screenplay is detailed and twisted. What works against it is the brutality of the violence, particularly when an innocent woman is intentionally injured by the hero. Brosnan reminds us why he succeeded as James Bond but he is a tad more sadistic here. Olga Kurrylenko plays a contact who hooks up with Devereaux and she seeks revenge on the army general who killed her family. Luke Bracey walks a tightrope as the younger agent placed against Devereaux unbeknownst the true facts. Bill Smitrovich plays a corrupt agent placed under interrogation. Lazar Ristovski plays the Russian presidential candidate who hides cruel practices in the military. The result is a pointless yet well made action film that delivers vintage Brosnan. Score: 8 / 10

I seem to watch allot of action films these days and allot of them are very similar and this includes the November man. The premise of the film sees an ex agent sent to rescue an agent until he gets mixed up in a conspiracy involving the CIA and the Russian government. Now u am a big fan of pierce brosnan even if he is in a bad film he is great and he totally owns thus film. He was an awesome action star but was also dark and tough and you see his character develop and he was a really interesting flawed action star. Luke bracey did a decent job as his former protégé and you really felt the conflict between the two of them and I did buy it. The former bond girl in this film who's name I cannot spell was also really good in this film. She was a really interesting character and she was a damaged character that was more then just an attractive girl to look at. The villains however, were just boring and cliché and didn't have anything of substance to them. The story is okay, I really liked the flashbacks and depth given to some of the characters. But, there are some pointless things in this film and the overall plot was pretty weak and boring. The script is not great, the dialogue is pretty poor but brosnan really makes it work and sometimes you forget about it. The style is a mixed bag, there are some pretty decent action scenes with some great sounding hits. However, they overuse slow motion allot and it doesn't help the action scenes at all. Overall the November man is enjoyable but it doesn't really consist on too many unique ideas.