Pierce Brosnan will obviously be eternally grateful for what the role of James Bond did for his career, especially when he was forced to turn it down once before when he couldn’t get out of his contract for Remington Steele back in the 1980s, which opened the door for the criminally underrated Timothy Dalton era.
However, the veteran actor has evidently resigned himself to the fact that he’ll be spending the rest of his career being asked about 007 whenever he’s on the press circuit, something he admitted has grown wearisome. There are many more strings to Brosnan’s bow than looking sharp in a tuxedo and saving the world, though, and one of his best non-Bond actioners is currently experiencing a resurgence on Netflix.
The November Man isn’t top tier action cinema, but it’s more than entertaining and enjoyable enough to whittle away a couple of hours, and Netflix subscribers clearly agree after it cracked the platform’s Top 10 most-watched list. Brosnan plays retired CIA operative Peter Devereaux, who gets pulled back into action for the fabled ‘one last job’.
His former lover, who also happens to be a Russian agent, has evidence of corruption within her government, but he becomes the victim of a double cross that results in her death. Forced to go on the run, Devereaux needs to clear his name and reveal the true bad guys. As mentioned, that’s about as standard as setups go, but The November Man nonetheless delivers enough fast-paced thrills and well-staged set pieces to deserve a second look.