There are a lot of great things in ‘Red Joan,’ but all in all the film doesn’t really make a great impression.  There’s of course Dame Judi Dench in the title role,  which is based on the real life person Melita Norwood, who was found to have been a Russian spy during the mid century, and had been living in a London suburb when she was arrested.  But the  screenplay, by Lindsay Shapero isn’t really too interesting, it lacks melodrama and/or intelligence to make the story soar. While I wasn’t totally bored, I was not too engrossed with it either and if not for the performances (by Dench and Sophie Cookson, who plays the young Joan) I would have probably dozed off.