Bovie Movie

Daniel Craig effortlessly makes James Bond his own, and the 21st movie in the series goes back to basics for this resoundingly entertaining spy adventure. GoldenEye director Martin Campbell has obviously been watching the Bourne franchise, and here he gives the superspy a gritty makeover, upping the violence content (the opening sequence, shot in grainy black and white, is particularly brutal). He also strips Bond of much of the slightly camp humour — thus no appearance from gadget-man Q. The plot is essentially an origins story, as a rough-around-the-edges Bond gains his two zeros (the two authorised kills he needs for his infamous licence) before tackling villain Le Chiffre (a splendidly thin-lipped Mads Mikkelsen) in a game of high-stakes poker. Craig’s humanised, more flawed interpretation of the role balances Campbell’s physical direction and co-writer Paul Haggis’s sparing wit, while Eva Green provides an alluring love interest. Apart from a chaotic and overlong last act, this is a triumphant new beginning. 

This engrossing thriller from director Sydney Pollack stars Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, and has the distinction of being the first movie to film inside the United Nations headquarters in New York (something even Hitchcock couldn’t manage when he made North by Northwest in 1959). Kidman plays translator Silvia Broome, who overhears a threat to murder an African head of state (Earl Cameron) in a dialect that few can understand. Recently bereaved Secret Service agent Tobin Keller (Penn) is then assigned to keep an eye on the imperilled interpreter, who has herself become an assassination target. But what could have been a routine action affair with a hint of romance takes a distinctly sinister turn as Keller begins to suspect there is more to Broome than meets the eye. Pollack’s return to directing (it’s his first feature for six years) may be a little too worthy for its own good, but the performances of Kidman and Penn turn this handsome, tightly knit and intelligent film into a vehicle for those who want more than mere entertainment from their political thrillers.