The Devereaux Dilemma
Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan - Seraphim Falls) is a lethal and highly trained ex-CIA agent, who has been living in Switzerland since he retired. But he finds himself being persuaded to come out of retirement to watch over a witness and former colleague targeted for assassination. In doing so he finds himself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with his former protege David Mason (Luke Bracey). With no one to trust, Peter must survive Mason's unending assault whilst rooting out a suspected CIA mole who may be even a greater danger to him than Mason is.
They say money can't buy you love but it certainly can help make a better looking movie. Take "The November Man" which not only features Pierce Brosnan in front of the camera but also Roger Donaldson behind the camera, if you don't know directors he has movies such as Dante's Peak, The Bank Job and The Bounty amongst his credits. And that combination of Brosnan and Donaldson give "The November Man" a level of class and energy which draws you in to this story of a former CIA agent drawn back in to action and having to watch his back as not only is the agent he trained after him but there is corruption in the agency as well.
Yet when you ignore the cast and production what you have left is a storyline which I am sure I have seen used in a Steven Seagal movie. Yes there are some interesting developments to this action thriller but all the ingredients are pretty standard from car chases to sniper shots as well as face to face confrontations. The simple difference is that these days Pierce Brosnan makes for a more entertaining action hero than Steven Seagal and the level of production whilst not ambitious is slick making "The November Man" tick along nicely rather than feeling rushed and done on the cheap.
What this all boils down to is that "The November Man" is a solid action thriller which benefits greatly from having Pierce Brosnan in the lead role as well as Roger Donaldson in charge of directing it. But at the same time there isn't anything to this movie which makes it stand out from the crowd with some elements likely to make people think of the Bourne movies.
