PIERCE BROSNAN IN THE NOVEMBER MAN

year: 2014 rating: **1/2

As the prettiest of former James Bonds, making dapper Roger Moore seem like the rugged Sean Connery in comparison, Peirce Brosnan, aged into a timeworn Sam Neill exterior with a grim, world-weary countenance, has a lot to prove as a guy you’ve seen in many espionage flicks: an ex-CIA operative is brought back into the game and this time, "It’s personal"…

THE NOVEMBER MAN starts with a subtle action sequence more befitting an established cable series than a motion picture… The characters are so comfortable with their banter and gunplay, it feels like we entered halfway through – or are experiencing the beginning of a sequel with characters already familiar to the audience. 

Maybe this is intentional since we learn each step as the story unfolds. Brosnan’s Devereaux is a cold-blooded mentor to an aloof and deadly young agent named Mason (a Paul Walkeresque Luke Bracey). But this isn’t a buddy picture… Much of the screen time has a roving, gun-blasting Devereaux protecting a beautiful Olga Kurylenko as Alice, a woman who… well… films like this shouldn't be spoiled, although many elements are downright predictable. Just know that NOVEMBER initially overloads on specifics to provide a bloody, breezy ride for the last half. Bottom line, the less we know about these people, the better. Just watch the things they do and forget about their all-too-familiar reasons or motivation… As a mediocre espionage thriller, it's not a bad testosterone-driven action flick.