The Courier

Relive that moment in history where the world danced on the edge of nuclear destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This dark movie reflects why I majored in history. Director Dominic Cooke brings to the big screen the story of a British businessman who agrees to go to Moscow as a secret agent to diffuse the growing nuclear conflict being led by Nikita Khrushchev.

Benedict Cumberbatch has never been better, here playing a British citizen who agrees to a mission despite having no training. Keeping it secret from his wife (a marvelous Jessie Buckley), he leaves on a journey to save our planet at the risk of his own life.

While both Angus Wright and Rachel Brosnahan will capture your attention as the British agents who recruit Cumberbatch, this film belongs to Merab Ninidze in his role as the Russian agent Oleg Penkousky. You watch him warmly befriend Cumberbatch as he smuggles important Russian military secrets out of the country.

With both the world and his marriage sitting on the eve of destruction, Cumberbatch demands a return to Moscow to help his Russian friend escape. You get wrapped up in the emotional intrigue that defines the movie as Soviet security agents lurk in the shadows.

What makes this fine film special is that you relive the Cuban Missile Crisis taking place in 1962. Khrushchev and President Kennedy were locked in a duel that made nuclear war a distinct possibility. I still remember the tension as we knelt under our desks at school during nuclear drills.

This movie brings to life a horror story that needs to be remembered.