The November Man - DVD

Film: After the bloody end of a routine mission, aging CIA agent Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) has actually retired from the business. He feels guilty for his protégé Mason's (Luke Bracey) bad decision that cost the life of a child. But when his friend and boss Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) asks him to get a key witness out of Russia who supposedly has evidence that future Russian President Arkady Federov (Lazar Ristovski) is guilty of a gruesome massacre in Chechnya, Peter just can't say no because of his personal connection to the witness. But in doing so, he maneuvers himself into the sights of another CIA unit led by Mason, of all people. When the clash between the two comes to a bloody end, it's just the beginning of a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, with a Federov hitwoman and a conspiracy within the CIA's ranks also making it nearly impossible for Peter to complete his assignment. But he doesn`t give up easily - because not for nothing they call him the November Man...

Director Roger Donaldson, who already directed the successful disaster movie Dante`s Peak with Pierce Brosnan, presents with The November Man a rock-solid agent thriller, which doesn`t break new ground dramaturgically. Many elements of the story - especially the relationship between mentor and student, who become enemies - have already been used in numerous other films and books of this genre. Still, this first adaptation of Bill Granger's successful series of novels works very well overall. Donaldson creates a gripping atmosphere in which even the fairly predictable story can build plenty of tension. The action sequences embedded within are very well crafted and ensure that a decent pace is maintained at all times, nipping any looming length in the bud.

The actors also do very well (literally) measured against what the script allows them to do. Ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan is perfectly cast as an aging top agent, and ex-Bondgirl Olga Kurylenko also cuts a fine figure once again, though she is pleasantly allowed to step out of her usual victim role, especially in the final third. Amila Terzimehic is also really well cast as an ice-cold killer who exudes a truly menacing presence. Luke Bracey, who last disappointed in the unsuccessful Nicholas Sparks film The Best of Me - My Way to You, remains somewhat pale in comparison to his co-stars. However, he also leaves a good impression in the action scenes, which consoles his otherwise somewhat powerless performance.

Although the big surprises are missing and much of what is shown here may have been seen better in other films, The November Man is, on balance, a really good representative of its subject, which does not pretend to be more than it actually is. The audience should be offered a thrilling story and some rousing action in front of an atmospheric backdrop with a charismatic lead actor. And in this respect, the film delivers in full. No genre masterpiece, but good entertainment for an entertaining home cinema evening and therefore also: absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD impresses with a high image sharpness, which also allows many smaller details to come into their own very well. The coloration is very atmospheric, soiling or other visible weaknesses are not apparent. The sound shows its strengths especially in the action sequences. In addition to the well intelligibly mixed dialogues, sound effects such as gunshots, explosions or squealing car tires provide powerful movement in the surround area again and again. Good!

Extras: In addition to short featurettes about leading actor Pierce Brosnan (about 6 min.) and the filming location Belgrade (about 5 min.) has the DVD still a standard promo making of (about 10 min.) on board.

Conclusion: The November Man is a workmanlike spy thriller, which can convince with some very successful action scenes, a proven good Pierce Brosnan and a suspenseful story. The DVD presents the action in good picture and sound quality. The bonus material is meager, but has some interesting information about the adaptation of the novel series by Bill Granger and the shooting in Belgrade to offer. If you like action-packed conspiracy thrillers, this is definitely worth a look. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp