"Royale" Without Cheese

When Daniel Craig was first cast as James Bond, I was one of many who expressed my doubts. He's not tall, not handsome -- at first glance, he's not -- as the character is often described -- "the man every woman wants and every man wants to be."

But a still photo of the guy doesn't tell you everything. Once you see him in action on the screen, it all totally works. In fact, it works so well, when the movie's over, you couldn't imagine anyone else playing the part.

That says a lot, considering Craig is the sixth actor to play the role. But it says more about the script (by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, with dialogue help from Oscar-winner Paul Haggis) which allows Craig to make the character his own. The writers start from scratch, introducing Bond as a young agent just beginning his career. In a black and white prologue, we get to see his first kill, and it's not pretty. The brutal violence sets the tone -- there'll be no parachuting off cliffs in this one. But it also allows a fresh interpretation of Bond.

Rugged and muscular, this 007 is no pretty boy. What Craig does have is charisma and intensity. He's also able to do what no what no previous actor has been able to do: make the character plausible. Don't get me wrong -- I loved Pierce Brosnan in the role. But he was playing a different character -- he was the Bond who could singlehandedly take out a small army and save the world, all without wrinkling his expensive tailored suit. But that's not the guy we see in Casino Royale. Brosnan or Roger Moore couldn't have played this Bond. Only a young Sean Connery could have come close. Of course, Craig has the advantage of a screenplay that for the first time, gives Bond a true character arc and real emotions.

The rest of the cast is great, too. Eva Green is gorgeous as treasury agent, Vesper Lynd -- the most complex, three-dimensional Bond girl ever. She has real chemistry with Craig, and their romance is the best real love story the series has ever achieved. Dame Judi Dench (the only actor returning from the previous films) gives her best performance yet as "M". This time, she's more of a mother to Bond -- guiding him and helping to shape him into the man he becomes. Jeffrey Wright, though under-used, is also great as Bond's CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter.

The storyline is also more realistic. Ironically, Casino Royale -- the shortest of Bond novels (less than 200 pages) -- has become the longest Bond movie (2 hrs. 20 mins.). It begins with what amounts to a mini-Bond movie about 007 foiling a terrorist plot to blow up a plane in Miami. It then segues to the plot of the novel, which makes up the bulk of the movie's second act. Here, the writers are very faithful to Ian Fleming's original work, albeit with some extra fight scenes and car chases thrown in. The book is essentially a simple story about a card game. Bond is sent to the casino to make sure the bad guy loses all of his money. The game is updated from Baccarat to Texas Hold 'Em. At first, I thought that change was sacrilege, but it's absolutely the right choice, since it allows the audience to more easily follow what's going on. The psychological nature of Hold 'Em also gives the writers and actors more fun stuff to work with.

In short, Casino Royale is a terrific rebirth for the Bond series. I look forward to Craig's next mission.