So once upon a time Pierce Brosnan used to play James Bond who, I’m informed, is quite a popular movie character. In fact, Brosnan got off to an absolute flyer with Goldeneye, which really invigorated the 007 franchise after a few difficult years. Unfortunately, Brosnan’s subsequent Bond movies were toilet and he was – as all spies are, eventually – retired.
But Brosnan, a likeable and sturdy actor, is now back in the spy game in an adaption of one of Bill Granger’s Peter Devereaux novels called disingenuously There Are No Spies. Codenamed The November Man, Devereaux retires from the CIA – it’s all so meta! – after killing a child. But as Devereaux’s retirement would probably make pretty poor viewing, he’s dragged back to play a deadly game of cat and mouse against his former pupil.
Watch Brosnan walk in slow-motion away from an explosion!
So, the film company has clearly been waiting for November to come around so they can release this. It did okay in the States, but Brosnan has announced a sequel. We’re all thinking the same thing, right? The December Man…
So, look, that’s out this week, but I’ve frankly got nothing else to do, so let’s talk about next week’s big crime drama, Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My – oh, wait.
The Drop will forever be remembered as James Gandolfini’s last movie. It’s written by Dennis Lehane – the master of sweaty blue collar dramas – and is based on his short story Animal Rescue, which has subsequently been turned into a novel. Hey, waste not, want not.
So there’s that, next week. But there’s also The Imitation Game, in which man-of-the-moment Benedict Cumberbatch plays one of the tragic figures of our time, Alan Turing.
Watch Cumberbatch ride a bicycle!
The adapted script by Graham Moore topped the annual Black List for best unproduced Hollywood scripts in 2011 and was picked up after a fierce bidding process. It is, of course, about mathematician Turing and his team’s bid to crack the Enigma Code during World War II, but also his subsequent prosecution for indecency.
Crime Thriller Fella 
Goldeneye was Brosnan’s best Bond and it might not be inappropriate to suggest this is another attempt to provide us with what happens when Bond get old. It certainly looks full of Bond action.
The November Man certainly looks to be a zestful nudge and a wink to Brosnan’s career. The whole spy forced out of retirement plot is positively ancient!