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The Courier

2020

Dominic Cooke

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley, Merab Ninidze ...

6.4

4,735

Mystery. Drama The true story of a British businessman unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with a Soviet officer hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile

	Author	Review
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"Benedict Cumberbatch heats up solid Cold War drama. The star turns in his most convincing performance for years (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"[A] solid, if dull-by-definition espionage story (...) Ironbark’s” hook is the fact that it’s based on true events"	NEU
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"It’s the perfect movie for anyone who watched 'Bridge of Spies' and thought: “If only that had been 30 minutes shorter, a bit less artful, and a lot more British"	POS
United States	John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter	"A likable but slow-building espionage tale (...) Though it never transforms into a grade-A spy thriller, the film boasts action that's briefly quite involving."	NEU
United States	M.N. Miller Ready Steady Cut	"[It] has everything you want in a Cold War spy thriller. It’s solidly paced and strikes a nice balance of suspense and moving human drama (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Grierson Screendaily	"'Ironbark' has a ripping story to tell, but not always the most gripping way to tell it (...) [It] feels like a bit of a missed opportunity"	NEU
United States	Gregory Ellwood The Playlist	"It’s a Cold War tale we’ve seen before in one iteration or another. Thankfully, Dominic Cooke’s 'Ironbark' is blessed with fantastic turns from Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessie Buckley and Rachel Brosnahan"	POS
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"Benedict Cumberbatch’s latest has all the trappings of a great film (...) So, why is it so mediocre?"	NEU
United States	Keith Watson Slant	"Dominic Cooke’s film is content to regurgitate some of the more tired artistic tropes about the Cold War (...) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"	NEG
United States	Adam Chitwood Collider	"A wildly entertaining and inspiring—if a tad familiar—entry to the genre"	POS
United States	Anthony Lane The New Yorker	"[It] lacks the emotional and moral punch of a truly great spy movie (...) For fans of Cumberbatch, on the other hand, it will be a fount of joy."	NEU
United States	Odie Henderson rogerebert.com	"Cliché is not a bad thing if it’s done right, especially if they involve characters to root for and a fair amount of high stakes to overcome (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Chris Hewitt Empire	"Well shot, very well acted, and more enthralling than you might expect (...) There's real drama, and thrills, to be found in this story of a very unlikely friendship that changed the course of history (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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