★★
The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB's longest-serving British spy.
Classification: 12A
Despite an advertised lead turn from Judi Dench, the majority of Red Joan is the performance from Sophie Cookson, who is the only highlight in this meandering and unexciting story of espionage in the birth of the atomic age. Cookson portrays a younger Joan Stanley, a character based off real Soviet spy Melita Norwood who provided the Soviet Union secrets from the British atomic program. Dench portrays the character in her elder years as British authorities question her actions decades ago and the film uses these small scenes to bridge the large swathes of flashbacks starring Cookson.
Red Joan follows a similar narrative structure to 2014’s The Imitation Game in which a non-assuming individual is arrested and then their past is revealed through flashbacks. Director Trevor Nunn isn’t able to find a satisfying narrative flow between the two timelines of the film which leaves certain revelations within the story not as critical or engaging as they could be. Not enough time is spent with Joan’s moral reasonings for becoming a soviet spy instead Red Joan puts more focus on the love triangle between the idealist communist Leo and British atomic scientist Max vying for the romantic interests of Joan.
Sophie Cookson stands out despite the faults within the script and her performance is a good mix of vulnerable, dynamic and intelligent. The character’s internal struggle is a good basis for dramatic conflict and Cookson along with Dench’s scenes make this struggle the most interesting element of the story. The supporting performances range from unlikable to forgettable which mar the believability of the film. Tom Hughes performance as Leo is an equal amount of smug and loathsome that Joan’s mere association with him is discomforting.
As a period piece, Red Joan does the necessary work in its production design with notable costumes and sets recreating the feel of the 1930s and 1940s. It does good work with the immersion that is unfortunately broken by the unnecessary cutbacks to the 2000s with Dench’s scenes. At times it feels like Red Joan needs to pick a timeline and stick to it because the storylines happening in the flashbacks are more important to the overall story than the ones the “present” timeline is trying to develop. Cutting back and forth with long periods in between deflates the growing tension in both timelines. Along with the dramatic irony of knowing Joan isn’t caught until decades later, scenes of her committing espionage doesn’t have the edge it needs to be exciting.
Red Joan had many elements in favour of its success, however, a flawed script and an unsteady direction of these elements leave it with nothing substantial. Joan’s reasonings and motivations were a good basis for a character study of the age of nuclear weapons but romantic fantasies and nostalgia take hold and scupper any meaningful discussion and only allows the bare minimum to conclude the story. Cookson’s and Dench’s performances aren’t wasted but I feel that a different story structure would have benefitted them greatly.
Director: #TrevorNunn
Cast: #SophieCookson, #StephenCampbellMoore, #TomHughes, #BenMiles, #NinaSosanya, #TerezaSrbova, #JudiDench
Release Date: April 19th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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