Post by sgev1977 on Jan 25, 2020 5:20:28 GMT
First one:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/ironbark-review-1272810
A solid spy drama about ordinary people caught up in Cold War espionage, Dominic Cooke's Ironbark is as meat-and-potatoes as its real-life hero: Greville Wynne, an English salesman who found himself helping avert calamity during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's quite a story, if the truth is anything like what's onscreen: According to Tom O'Connor's script, the high-placed Russian with the relevant info assured Western intelligence operatives the only way he could get them that data was through an ordinary man with no government affiliation.
Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Wynne's evolution is the heart of the movie, and in fact the film evolves as well — starting in light, "Who, me?!" territory before growing serious, then grim. A late-blooming "We'll change the world, one friendship by one" theme may not be entirely persuasive in a time like this, but hell: Adults who lived through 1962 also felt like the end was nigh; who are we to complain?
Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Wynne's evolution is the heart of the movie, and in fact the film evolves as well — starting in light, "Who, me?!" territory before growing serious, then grim. A late-blooming "We'll change the world, one friendship by one" theme may not be entirely persuasive in a time like this, but hell: Adults who lived through 1962 also felt like the end was nigh; who are we to complain?
Enjoyable as it is, the drama never quite gets its claws in until Wynne realizes his friend is in imminent danger. Cumberbatch portrays him as a man who was ambivalent about serving his country, but iron-willed when it comes to personal loyalty. (He's not the same man he was when he betrayed his wife, evidently.) The professional spies show their true colors; Brosnahan's role may not be nearly as rich as Mrs. Maisel fans would wish, but at least she gets to help Wynne be a hero. Though it never transforms into a grade-A spy thriller, the film boasts action that's briefly quite involving.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/ironbark-review-1272810