Not Coming to a Theater Near You

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Casino Royale / Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale / USA/Germany/UK/Czech Republic / 2006

Bartender: “Shaken or stirred?”

James Bond: “Do I look like I give a damn?”

So, every time I watch a Bond film I always wonder why exactly James Bond spends so much time and effort saving the life of a woman who he purportedly disposes of emotionally as soon as the story ends, especially when he is supposed to be focused on larger goals involving saving the world. It’s particularly puzzling since Bond is usually characterized as a misogynist womanizer incapable of thinking of women as anything other than objectified sexual conquests that he probably uses as interchangeable names within elaborate stories during water-cooler boasting with other MI-6 agents. I sometimes have a nagging suspicion that Bond is actually a rather pathetic, overly romantic, somewhat sentimental cad who is prone to falling in love with any woman willing to buy his debonair facade for more than 10 consecutive minutes. Could it actually be that Bond falls in love with these women, but that they just grow tired of his macho antics as times passes?

Thankfully, Vesper Lynd answers many of my questions. As played by the gorgeous Eva Green, Vesper might be the best Bond Girl within the modern era of the series and I probably wouldn’t disagree if anyone claimed her to be the pinnacle of Bond’s romantic endeavors within the entire franchise. I was wondering why Esquire magazine dedicated an entire page to discussing the finer qualities of the drink that shares her name and I now have a very satisfying answer as to what their point might have been – she’s almost unexpectedly bold in comparison to all the other martinis that Bond has savored over the years and she certainly delivers a kick that the Double-O Agent isn’t always prepared to handle. Most importantly, Vesper finally provides Bond with adequate motivation for not only his first mission, but the rest of his career.

This might just be the only film associated to Paul Haggis that I have actually enjoyed and that I believe is worthy of the minor amount of acclaim it has generated so far. It stands out as an anomaly within the franchise because it delights in undermining the traditional masculine mythology that surrounds Bond and then finds a sly method to reinstitute it entirely by breaking Bond’s heart. Of course, its plotting is a bit clunky and results in a conclusion that just seems to drag on without any real natural flow – though that might just be another deviation from the traditional narrative “roller-coaster” that typifies its genre.

Also, in case anyone forgot: Jeffrey Wright rocks!

Rumsey’s thoughts | Beth’s thoughts |

More Bond.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Sony Pictures 35mm Print
01 Dec 2006 4:26 PM | Submit Comment

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