I've seen this movie before. To be more accurate, I've seen lots of spy stories, and The November Man is nothing original, but the pacing and the plot twists make for a dandy couple hours of thrills and spills.The viewer, so often the victim of clichéd crap in the theater or on TV, can rest assured that Roger Donaldson, who has made everything from The Bounty to the awful remake of Peckinpah's The Getaway, from gory science fiction (Species) to historical fiction (Thirteen Days), will deliver a journeyman effort.Even if there are no major push-backs against the Hollywood cliché machine.There is a moment in the movie that Pierce Brosnan's character warns his protégé that he can either be "a human or a taker of human life," he can't be both. This is the sort of extra sprinkle of intelligence that makes The November Man a cut above. And the cut that happens right after that comment is enough to make the viewer gasp with horror.I watched The November Man last night, and I found myself not wanting to do chores (easy ones at that) because I wanted to immerse myself in the story.For the life of me, I can't think of a better recommendation than that. The next time USA Network shows it, sit down, put the dishes and the laundry off for awhile, and enjoy a good, solid spy story.And don't pay for it! I didn't see TNM uncut, but I don't think I missed anything critical from the edited-for-television version.

The November Man (2014) is an espionage thriller vehicle for once Bond Brosnan, The November Man tries hard but never distinguishes itself and worst of all, it gets monotonous and even boring as it repeats its sometimes senseless, violent gun play and grinds to a blood and bullets conclusion. Brosnan plays Devereaux, a shadowy CIA operative, who prides himself on having no personal connections. At one point at the beginning of the film,He pulls triggers, and in The November Man Devereaux never misses his mark. But after a job gone bad (due his young partner's failure to follow orders), he retires. But he's pulled back into the organization, of course, for one last job in Russia. Naturally, that job goes even worse, and he goes on a rampage to exact some revenge November-style. As for a rewatch 06/11/17', The November Man remains the similar and same spy action thriller, with low on thrills and suspense. With a very old-school esque tone and lacking on some mystery, this film is quite a forgettable action film.

"There Are No Spies" (1986) by Bill Granger was an exceptional thriller about retired spy Devereaux being called back to service to dig up a Soviet mole. "The November Man," the movie based on the novel, is an abomination.In itself, the film is a mediocre-to-fair production with standard action, twists and subterfuge, worthy of 5 stars on the 10-star scale. It's the underlying story that's the problem. The movie turns Granger's tale on its head by making America the villain in an impossibly far-fetched plot.How bad is "The November Man"? I wouldn't be surprised if Russian despot Vladimir Putin bankrolled this movie.

BRIEF BLU-RAY REVIEW:Wow, this baby looks positively amazing! VERY sharp, textured, and with deep, saturated colours. In the commentary, the director mentions that they did use digital cameras but with anamorphic lenses which I guess lends a sharp but textured look to the picture. I have hundreds of Blu-rays and this one REALLY impressed me with how absolutely beautiful it looked. From the exquisite shots of the city, the buildings, and the streets, to the close-ups of faces and interiors. Truly lovely...I am somewhat puzzled at the negative reviews that exist for this film. Yes, MOST are quite positive, but even at Bluray.com, which I ALWAYS check for their reviews, the guy there was kind of snarky about this movie, saying that Pierce's character was somehow 'Schizophrenic' in some way as far as his 'Good' / 'Bad' behaviour, but I truly did not see that at all... I thought his actions were well within the parameters and consistent with how his character was laid out, and not forced or over the top, which is very easy to do when you are going for a darker, grittier mood. I found this movie to be extremely well done, very tightly paced, well acted, and nicely put together all the way around. After reading the dubious review about the movie itself at Bluray.com, I kept expecting some of the elements to be poorly done, or that maybe some of the acting would not be so hot, but ultimately I personally found this film to be one of the VERY best Thrillers that Brosnan has been in since his James Bond days.The writing was excellent. The story was very believable and involving. Not only did it have a good Espionage / Thriller aspect to it, which is primarily what I was interested in, but it also handled the element involving the mentor agent and his protégé throughout the story in a way that worked really well. I also felt that the supporting actors, especially Bill Smitrovich, did an outstanding job. I guess if I absolutely HAD to complain about something and someone was actually threatening me with SEVERE bodily harm unless I came up with something negative, I suppose, and this I must emphasize is just my own personal taste or preference and not necessarily a general detraction from the quality of the film itself, I would just mention that for me personally, I could have done without the protracted sex scene or perhaps the explicit nature of some of the violence here and there. But again, that is just my own taste in the sense that I basically feel that the quality of the film was so good itself that it just simply was not really NEEDED to add in those few, brief elements. They had the feeling, to me at least, of almost being 'tacked on' or thrown in just because.... No real biggie; just my preference... However, I DID like the overall 'Dark' elements that made both the story and the characters very visceral, textured, and 'Real', but I didn't think that they went overboard or overdid it like many times they do when they are deliberately going for a 'Gritty' and 'Realistic' feel.So all in all, I genuinely felt that this was one of the better made Thrillers that I have seen in quite a while. I would say that if you really like a good Espionage / Thriller like I do, then there is a very good chance that you will enjoy this excellent, entertaining movie...I gave it a very solid '8' which I think it fully deserves...