The November Man - C

Rated R, 108 minutes

Entertaining but cliched, spy thriller "The November Man" is nothing new

The bland new spy thriller "The November Man" has all the right ingredients: it's based on a novel series, stars a former "007" and seems peppered with some nice action scenes. While the action set pieces are fun, the predictable story lacks originality and some coherency,  making the movie a serviceable, albeit a tad dull, entry, in the genre. Code named 'The November Man', Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) is a lethal and highly trained ex-CIA agent, who has been enjoying a quiet life in Switzerland. When Devereaux is lured out of retirement for one last mission, he must protect valuable witness, Alice Fournier, (Olga Kurylenko). He soon uncovers this assignment marks him a target of his former friend and CIA protégé David Mason (Luke Bracey), but realizes there may be a mole within the agency. With the right script, director and star, "The November Man" could've easily become the next "Bourne"-like spy franchise - and it has two of those in "The Bank Job's" Roger Donaldson and handsome (and very game) lead actor Brosnan - but it falters underneath a muddled, cliched script with enough plot holes to make Matt Damon smile: the one last job, the mole, the mysterious young woman etc. With some slick production values, it's not as literate as John le Carre or as smooth as Bond (the film not the character), "The November Man" is grounded well by the aging Brosnan, but it underuses the young Australian actor Bracey, and the not-so-mysterious villain is one of the most tame, milquetoast bad guys seen in some time. "The November Man" starts off well, then peters out by the end, and you're hoping for more (especially for one tough Russian chick in the movie that my friend nicknamed "The Hitler Bee-yatch" for her skill at killing). Mildly entertaining but unoriginal down the stretch, "The November Man" is disappointing, which is unfortunate, because the talented Brosnan deserves better than this, not to mention that it loses some steam by being released in late August.

Wes's Grade: C