The Courier is one of those films that I can definitely say I hadn’t heard of before. It’s a pretty interesting story although I do think it did not end up sticking the landing. The final part of the film just ends up being more on the weaker side. Still, I imagine their options were limited on what they could really do considering the fact that it is based on real events so it’s not like they could just make everything up. I’m not sure how many liberties were taken with this one or not since I was not familiar with the events but I assume the general layout/beginning and end are close to what happened.

The film starts by explaining how things are still tense during the cold war and people don’t really know what the Soviet Union will do next. The West needs an informant and so they decide to bring in well known businessman, Greville. M16 and the CIA convince him that this mission won’t be crazy dangerous and they really need someone to just go in and act natural. He will end up getting something from their contact Oleg and then he can come home. It’ll all e real easy but are they hiding something from him?

The movie also ends up adapting the big Cuban Missile Crisis so it was interesting to see that play a role in the film. Tensions were definitely high all around and everybody was seen as suspicious. So honestly no matter what the CIA and M16 said, this was always going to be super dangerous. Even if Greville played everything perfectly, it would still raise a lot of eyebrows to see how often he was entering Russia. That puts you on a list no matter what and he tempted fate a little too much.

He’s presented as a nice guy who is fairly honorable and so he didn’t want to just ditch Oleg and leave the guy to his fate. A really good quality without a doubt but on the other hand it also means that he was basically entering into a no win situation. Both Oleg and Greville should have left much earlier and each one just underestimated the other side. A key thing to always try to do is imagine that the enemy has the same level of abilities that you do. So as you’re gaining more and more intel then it should come as no surprise that they will be doing the same.

A big subplot in the movie is the marriage trouble Greville is having with his wife and the big reason is because he didn’t tell her what was really going on. That was a big mistake on his part. No matter what anyone says, you can always tell your wife what is happening. No secret should be too big because if you can’t trust her with that, then your relationship is already doomed as it is. If he had come clean about this then perhaps she would have been upset and told him not to go but at least she would know exactly what was going on. Yeah the risk is higher since she can mess up as well but I think you have to take that risk.

Oleg was also keeping secrets and his makes more sense since he was actively betraying his country. It makes a lot of sense why his wife would likely not be on board with that. Still, the same rules apply here. If you can’t even trust your wife then you are already lost. Oleg had the most dangerous role here since he was a high level official working within the enemy territory. It’s why he should have played things a bit differently but of course hindsight is always undefeated.

The CIA and M16 are definitely very shady the whole time. They basically use their pieces for as long as possible and then ditch them eventually. The M16 guy at least seemed to care a bit and wasn’t going as far but the CIA lady was definitely real eager to use the pieces for as long as she could. She definitely put them in really great risks here and of course that did not play out so well. Like I said before, the ending isn’t quite as fun and that’s because it definitely gets rather dark and gruesome. The movie doesn’t shy away from showing you the tougher parts about being a spy.

It’s definitely not all fun and games like in James Bond. You’re in incredible danger at every point and once you’re caught, death is the last of your worries. It’s why I always wonder how characters will just be at gunpoint and meekly follow the villains. Your best bet is to run and they end up landing a fatal shot or something. A quick death is what you want. If you’re captured then your chances of survival approach 0 and it will be a really long period of time for you. Every minute will feel like forever. Of course in the moment it can be tough to make a decision but the important thing is to never let yourself get taken anywhere. Try to drill that into your mind as much as possible.

Overall, The Courier is definitely an intense film. It shows how difficult it is to be a spy and also how the government can put some quick pressure on you to get the job. Greville was a bit naive in how easily he let them convince him to take up the job though. He basically threw away his secure life for this and while it turned out better than it could have, that won’t always be the case. 9 times out of 10 these kinds of shady deals from the government are not going to work out well for you and it’s best to decline. If you have the CIA or another agency walking up to you and asking you to do something, you probably want to say no. There will be a lot of guilt tripping and soft threats but as long as you haven’t actually done anything, then you’re good.