The November Man 2014

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Donaldson, a veteran Australian director who was hot in the 1980s, should know to avoid the many rookie mistakes he lazily makes here. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: [An] engaging, fast-paced and ultimately ludicrous combo of espionage and mayhem ... Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Runs through spy movie cliches with such dogged obligation that it often plays like a YouTube compilation of scenes from older, better thrillers, generating little overall tension and only occasionally approaching basic coherence. Read more

Jesse Hassenger, AV Club: When The November Man stays pulpy, its cheesier aspects-like a low-rent supporting cast and a gratuitous sex scene-seem like par for the course. When it turns more serious, so do its failings. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: Nothing fresh is being brought to the table, but it's a sufficient bit of fun for anyone who longs for the days of Brosnan's spy swagger. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Sadly, the film rapidly devolves into an AARP version of a Jason Bourne-like vendetta, only bloodier and less meaningful. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Director Roger Donaldson has had his ups and downs over the past few years; the script for this lodges somewhere in the middle, though he compensates for its lack of distinction through sheer velocity and nimble negotiation of its hairpin turns. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The November Man" is a sturdy-enough addition to the action spy (as opposed to the thoughtful spy) canon. It shoots straight, runs fast and is thoroughly, almost convincingly, paranoid. Read more

Jason Clark, Entertainment Weekly: The utter lack of originality eventually sinks the movie, and the climax has more howlers than a wolf convention. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Though the film's cat-and-mouse scenes hardly compare to those in a Bourne movie, they're enjoyable and only occasionally ridiculous. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: It's called "The November Man," but it's really just another forgettable August release. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Some like it cold. And that seems to be Brosnan's aim here - showing us someone who enjoys his license to kill so much, he's forgotten some of his reason to live. Read more

Chris Klimek, NPR: It's a serviceable, pleasingly CGI-unenhanced run-and-gun flick I will find on Encore Action after midnight a year-and-a-half from now and watch for 17 minutes before remembering I've already seen it. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Imagine James Bond without the charm, heart, and sense of humor. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: The film is nearly over before you begin to wonder why it's called "The November Man," and giving any thought to the explanation is beside the point. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: It's unfortunate that the shrewdness -- dare I say thought? -- that went into shaping Brosnan's aging hero doesn't extend to the rest of the movie. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Brosnan ... slips back into his intel identity with seeming effortlessness. The watchfulness, the calm, the jujitsu moves, the walking-through-rooms-with-the gun-held-straight-out-in-front-of-you stuff. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: There's nothing terribly wrong with The November Man in a serviceable late-night cable TV sort of way but neither is there anything terribly right about it. It's unnecessary and derivative. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Often frustrating and at times incomprehensible, the Bourne/Bond clone keeps the pulse racing but ultimately fails to satisfy. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Although "The November Man" shows us some attractive people in motion, the cumulative effect leaves us neither shaken nor stirred. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The November Man is one of those thrillers that grows progressively more incoherent, and it simply isn't fast enough to glide over its gaping narrative holes. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: You can tell that veteran director Roger Donaldson senses that he's losing his audience when the music starts getting louder and the blood spray gets more slow motion-y. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: The spy who bored me. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A predictable espionage thriller undercut further by loose ends left dangling, November Man is worth seeing only for Pierce Brosnan's dynamic lead performance. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: As far as escapist fluff laced with totally unnecessary real-world horror goes, The November Man isn't wretched. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: If it doesn't transcend its genre origins, I suspect it's because it doesn't want to. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "The November Man" turns out to be the classic August movie: a triumph of competence over imagination and schlock over taste. Its highest value lies in reminding filmgoers that fall can't come too soon. Read more