If you are going to be a spy, there’s no better person to learn from than Mr. James Bond himself. More than a decade following his last outing as 007, Pierce Brosnan joins the spying world yet again in The November Man, albeit in an apparently more serious capacity.
Brosnan is Peter Devereaux, a CIA operative who teaches David Mason (Luke Bracey) how to be a proper spy. When Devereaux is brought back into the game, he finds himself pitted against his own protege on a deadly and personal mission. The November Man is based on the novel There Are No Spies, the seventh book in “The November Man” series by Bill Granger, with direction from Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job). It also stars former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and character actor Will Patton.
The first trailer for the thriller makes The November Man out to be a bit more serious than James Bond – and certainly more serious than Brosnan ever played him. Little is revealed in terms of plot, but there’s a poignant conversation about “love having no place in this life” that will certainly come into play in the rest of the film. So we should not be expecting tons of James Bond-style antics, despite the obvious 007 connections. The November Man looks like a pretty standard “serious” spy thriller, well suited for Brosnan’s slightly craggier looks.
Brosnan has been pretty open about his return to the world of espionage, saying in 2012 that Daniel Craig “can’t have it all to himself.” I think it’s a welcome resurrection, all things considered. Despite Die Another Day, Brosnan is still one of my absolute favorite Bonds. He’s older and more mature now, and this film looks like a nice way for him to step back into the spy genre.
You can watch the first trailer for The November Man below. The film will open August 27.