It’s ironic, yet hardly surprising that “The November Man” was buried by distributor Relativity Media at the end of August. The best thing that can be said about this effort, based on the 7th book in the “NM” series, “There Are No Spies”, written by late author Bill Granger, is that it’s appropriately titled, because when anyone thinks about it, the first thing that will come to mind is – TURKEY.
The true big screen “November Man” is James Bond, as six of the last seven 007 movies were released in that month to box office glory. Pierce Brosnan played the iconic agent four times and is regarded as one of the Best Bonds. As ex-CIA agent Peter Devereaux in “The November Man”, Brosnan doesn’t get to revisit his 007 glory days of fancy cars, beautiful women, incredible gadgets, weapons and ruthless villains. Instead, he settles for a clumsy, dumbed-down Bond knock-off which provides very little suspense or excitement.
Olga Kurylenko, who played Daniel Craig’s Bond Girl in 2008’s “Quantum of Solace”, becomes Devereaux’s partner as Alice, a social worker with a mysterious background and some inside information. The film is being promoted as an “Old Spy vs. New Spy” showdown, with Devereaux matching skills with his former apprentice at the CIA, Mason (played by Luke Bracey), who is now working against Devereaux and also happened to kill his wife. And, as has become popular in spy movies once again, the Russians are the bad guys.
If director Roger Donaldson (“The Bank Job”) succeeds with anything it’s that “The November Man” deserves its R-rating for the most random and bloodiest shootings and murders of any film this year. There’s hardly anything new or innovative in the dull and all-too-familiar script. The “revelation” midway through, poised to fool everyone, comes-off as a bad joke. And here’s how unoriginal this film is: there’s actually scene involving Brosnan’s character playing revolver Russian Roulette with a character he’s trying to get information from.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The November Man” gets a D. It’s 15 months until the next James Bond film hits theaters (November 2015). After watching a mess like this, the return of 007 can’t come soon enough.