Tony Klinger

This is meant as a send up title, but you can bet that there will be readers who don’t get the joke, or simply don’t think its very funny. My publishers suggested that I needed to come up with another title for my book, and a front cover idea, and for suggest read, GET ON WITH IT!

I saw Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond film that just opened. Of course, you must accept my comments in the context of this film being a smash hit. After all, what do we, the audience know, when the box office numbers are so big, and contradict what we see with our own eyes. But having seen the film I still don’t really know what the title or the story was all about, and quite frankly, don’t care.

The truth is that the latest 007 offering comes up short on its James Bondness.

Where were the unique “Bond” ingredients we all love? For sure we all enjoyed some great Bond type action, and Daniel Craig has added to the thrill quotient with his sublime physicality. The man is a human pinball, I don’t know how he is still in one piece after some of the most dangerous stunts every performed by a leading man on screen.

The women are still beautiful, sexy, charming and available, and no red blooded man would say no in the unlikely eventuality of being alone in a room with such well rounded and alluring girls.

The script, music, photography, costumes, make up and hair are all fine, but none are great, and that’s the case with a lot of the parts making up this whole. They just are not exceptional.

Worst of all the direction is just a bit heavy handed, Marc Forster, is a really good technician, but not a great artist. He doesn’t, this time around, demonstrate a lightness of touch that Bond demands. To capture the hearts and imagination of a wide Bond audience you have to bring some charm to the event, and there is none in this stolid, somewhat stodgy concoction. The film feels long but actually is shorter than many recent Bond movies, and this is a very bad sign.

Daniel Craig is still a fine choice for the role of Bond, but he wasn’t well served by this screenplay or director.

Another fault with the film’s story structure is that it has Judy Dench as M, Bond’s boss, popping up all over the place to confront Bond. I stand at the front of the line of Dench admirers for her acting ability, but it simply made no sense in this story for M to be swanning around all over the world and it resulted in some very poor situations for the film.

I don’t want you to read this thinking that it’s all bad, far from it, the action sequences are electrifying in parts, and dizzying in others. It also seems as if Bond has cornered the market in climbing up and down buildings without the need for stairs, and this alone is probably worth the price of admission for younger parts of the audience. The car chase sequence is amazing, but you do find yourself thinking of other films like this which are out there these days, and cover the same kind of territory. Most clearly the rival for this market is now the team making the Bourne film franchise. It would be a very good idea for the Bond people to go back to their own roots before they allow Bond to become just another action flick series that will soon die from a lack of warmth at its human core.

Bond has become predictable, a bit too worthy and dark. It would be wonderful if someone reminded the cast to smile.

Now about that title…I know, I’ll write a list.