Although everyone knows Pierce Brosnan as Remington Steele, or even more notably James Bond, he’s back as another spy, Peter Devereaux, in The November Man. This time Brosnan’s character is working for the Americans, but he’s just as bad—perhaps even worse—than the British suit-clad 007. PluggedIn’s Paul Asay reviewed The November Man and wasn’t impressed with the content. Devereaux is not only licensed to kill, but the film is far too gratuitous with its sexuality and violence. Asay says, “This obscene and oddly disjointed spy thriller is a mess from the get-go, slopping around in its blood-happy violence and completely extraneous (completely explicit) sex scenes.” Variety’s Andrew Barker agrees that the film is flop, saying the film “runs through spy-movie cliches with such dogged obligation that it often plays like a YouTube compilation of scenes from older, better thrillers, generating little overall tension and only occasionally approaching basic coherence.”
“In a summer of reboots and franchise films, originality often fails to show up at the box office,” which makes the originality of The Congress so impressive, according to Crosswalk’s Christian Hamaker. The animated political story captures audiences, but the top-billed actors don’t hurt either. Mad Men’s Jon Hamm is joined by Harvey Keitel and Paul Giamatti, but the true star, according to Hamaker is House of Card’s Robin Wright. “Viewers who are interested in Wright's development as an actress will value The Congress for giving Wright a role worthy of her talent,” says Hamaker. Variety’s Peter Debruge reviewed the film back when it was at Cannes and calls the film “a trippy cautionary tale about where society is headed” in which Wright plays “herself.” Debruge believes that movie goes will “appreciate a surreal double bill with this live-toon hybrid, ideal for midnight crowds and psychedelic enthusiasts.”
Larisa Kline is an intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King’s College in New York City.
