She became involved with Communists and radical politics through her friend Sonya (Tereza Srbova) and Leo (Tom Hughes), a German Jew.
(meta data) TITLE: 'Red Joan' Review: I Spy, Reluctantly - The New York Times (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2014-09-19T11:43:18-04:00 Skip to contentSkip to site indexMoviesLog InToday's PaperMovies|'Red Joan' Review: I Spy, Reluctantly Supported by # 'Red Joan' Review: I Spy, Reluctantly ImageJudi Dench as Joan Stanley in "Red Joan. "CreditCreditIFC FilmsRed JoanDirected by Trevor NunnBiography, Drama, RomanceR1h 41mMore InformationFind Tickets When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. By Jeannette Catsoulis April 18, 2019 A story of Cambridge spies, atom-bomb secrets and a passionate affair between a demure Brit and a dashing Commie should steam up the screen and pop your popcorn. Or you would think so: but leave it to the feted British theater director Trevor Nunn to flatten the intrigue and dampen the lust that could have made "Red Joan" zing. Nunn, however, can't take all the blame for the terribly-proper tone and stodgy pacing. Lindsay Shapero's screenplay (adapted from Jennie Rooney's 2013 novel and based on the real-life spy Melita Norwood) is an equal culprit, heavy on flashbacks and light on the seductiveness of hazardous ideas. Structured around the questioning of Joan Stanley (Judi Dench, reliably flawless), an English octogenarian charged with treason for leaking classified information to the Soviets, the movie strains to shed the claustrophobia of the interrogation room. Trailer: 'Red Joan'CreditCreditIFC Films Slipping back to 1938, the story finds Joan (now played by Sophie Cookson) studying physics at Cambridge and falling under the spell of the glamorous Sonya (Tereza Srbova). She'll keep falling when she meets the dangerously handsome Leo (Tom Hughes), a German Jew and Communist whose body interests her much more than his radical politics. Not until later, when she's part of a secret project to build the bomb, do its fearsome capabilities persuade her of the upside of mutually assured destruction. As a portrait of misplaced love and pacifist ideals, "Red Joan" isn't terrible. Zac Nicholson's images are soft as dust, but it's the haze of fusty rooms and the free-floating sexism of the time. What should be breathless and urgent is instead polite and listless: if you can't ignite sparks from an illicit bathroom assignation, then maybe espionage just isn't your thing. #### Red Joan Find Tickets When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Movie data powered by IMDb.com Rated R for extremely tasteful sex. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. A version of this article appears in print on , Section C, Page 12 of the New York edition with the headline: Red Joan. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe ### Related Coverage ## Shadows of War Sept. 19, 2014Image ## Site Index ### news ### opinion ### arts ### living ### more ### Subscribe
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Red Joan
Premise.
"Red Joan" is based on a novel of the same name written by Jennie Rooney, which was itself inspired by the life of Melita Norwood. Norwood worked at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association as a secretary and supplied the Soviet Union with nuclear secrets. The materials that Norwood betrayed to the USSR hastened the pace at which the Soviets developed nuclear bomb technology. Cookson is the young Joan Stanley studying physics at Cambridge.