The Courier

The main thrust of the Cold War might have pitted the United States against the Soviet Union, but The Courier spotlights an unsung British hero who risked everything to maintain world peace.

The true-life backdrop heightens the stakes in this straightforward and generically titled espionage thriller that provides moderate insight into a unique historical tidbit layered with international intrigue.

The story is set in the early 1960s, reminding us frequently that large-scale military conflict could be imminent. The focus turns to Cuba, with rumors of Soviet missiles pointing toward the U.S. mainland.

Amid government missteps and escalating public unease, a CIA agent (Rachel Brosnahan) suggests to her London counterparts that she knows a KGB insider, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze), willing to spill classified intelligence. Needing to send an ordinary citizen to protect their secret, officials settle on salesman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch).

His job is to pose as a tradesman innocently looking to do business in Moscow. Wynne and his wife (Jessie Buckley) are naturally apprehensive at first. “If this mission was the least bit dangerous, you’re the last person we’d send,” he’s told ominously.

And indeed, by the time he realizes the full extent of his assignment, it’s too late to turn back. Wynne and Penkovsky bond at the Bolshoi and form a mutually beneficial partnership, although — with the world on the brink of war — concealing their true intentions from suspicious Soviet officials becomes more perilous by the day.

While vividly re-creating the period, director Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach) establishes an atmosphere of underlying sociopolitical tension, even if the film tends to oversimplify the broader context. Meanwhile, the uneven screenplay by Tom O’Connor (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) deserves credit for its economical narrative approach in condensing a lot of material.

Cumberbatch’s poker-faced portrayal conveys an appropriate mix of bewilderment and determination, translating that loyal yet unassuming nature into a blue-collar rooting interest.

It seems almost antiquated these days that a protagonist scrambling to prevent catastrophe would lack an arsenal of one-liners and superpowers at his disposal. In that sense, The Courier feels like a throwback.

Lacking some nuance in embellishing some of the dramatic details, it nevertheless digs beneath the surface to find a deeper resonance, almost 60 years later.

Rated PG-13, 111 minutes.