Live and Let Spy

Rating: 6/10 (25 November 2006)

Many moons ago, my parents took my sister and I to the drive thru to see DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. I'm sure sis and I would have preferred a Disney movie at the time, but even at our age, it was pretty impressive when Sean Connery got his Mustang up on two wheels. Between that fateful starry night and now, I have ended up seeing every James Bond movie.
So the idea of working off some Thanksgiving day turkey and taking my son 30 years later to see CASINO ROYALE was fun. This movie features Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. And a new James Bond with an advertised new attitude. No more invisible cars, rocket back packs, laser beam wrist watches, or ejector seats.
I had seen Daniel Craig in LAYER CAKE and MUNICH and was already a fan, and he brings great acting chops, athleticism, and toughness to the role. Supporting Craig with their own wonderful acting are Judi Dench as "M' and Eva Green as the female lead.
And the villain of the movie? Goldfinger, Dr No, no the real villain is the pacing. The movie starts off all action, then builds the plot, then gets into the high stakes poker game and kind of bogs down. The writers even try to throw in some Idi Amin African type baddies in the middle of the poker game to break the monotony. Finally the poker game is over, and James Bond jumps in his Aston Martin to chase after the bad guys. Everyone in the movie theater straightened up in their seats for the finale. 30 seconds later, he is out of the car, with barely one fast slide through a curve.
1/2 hour later the movie is still going, and at the beginning of every new scene, the people in front of me 'sigh'. Finally the movie ends and a sigh of relief comes out of the crowd, no cheering, no applause, just relief. No one wanted to walk out in the middle, you want to see how the characters end up, but the 'natives' were definitely restless.
We walked into the theater at 7:10 and walked out at 10:00. If they would have made the movie 1/2 hour shorter and had that car chase everyone wanted for the finale, they would have made 100 million dollars more.
So the verdict is keep Craig, fire the screenwriter, kudos for attempting to have James Bond grow up, now if only I would grow up.