“Skyfall” directed by Sam Mendes

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Dan Walker on Film

SKYFALL

Director:

Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road To Perdition, Revolutionary Road)

Cast:

Daniel Craig (Layer Cake, Infamous, Casino Royale, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo)

Judi Dench (Mrs. Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Iris, Mrs. Henderson Presents)

Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls, The Sea Inside, No Country for Old Men)

Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List, Quiz Show, The English Patient, Sunshine, Spider)

Albert Finney (Tom Jones, The Dresser, Miller’s Crossing, Big Fish)

Let me get a few things out of the way at the start.

The release of a new Bond film doesn’t excite me as much as it used to.  There are so many of them and too many incarnations of the character.  I loved seeing the Bond movies with Sean Connery, less so with Roger Moore. With Moore, the stories were more interesting than his portrayals.  George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton are asterisks. I never found Remington Steele — I mean Pierce Brosnan — interesting, so I never saw any of his Bonds (OK, maybe one).  Daniel Craig, a dicey change in type for the character, rejuvenated my interest in the series.  (Also, I agree with Colin Powell who says Bond movies can be a bit silly because you know the guy’s going to live and get the girl.)

“Skyfall” is possibly the most oddly named of the Bond pictures, along with the comical and mildly vulgar “Octopussy”. Skyfall is the name of the all-but-abandoned home in the Scottish countryside where a big scene takes place. They ran out of book titles years ago.

The movie starts with the usual fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat opening, then evolves into a storyline where the British government questions the effectiveness of MI-6, Bond’s organization.  (The name brings to mind too easily the “Mission Impossible” franchise, which is almost indistinguishable — along with the Bourne movies — from the Bonds).  The government thinks MI-6 and especially M (Dench) are antiquated and ready for successors.  Naturally, the rest of the movie proves then disproves this notion.

While I’m not a Bond fanatic — this is the first Bond I’ve ever seen on opening day — I miss Desmond Llewelyn as Q. The role suffers from his absence (although there’s nothing that can be done about it since Llewelyn passed away).  By comparison, his successor Ben Whishaw seems embryonic and difficult to buy into.  Daniel Craig is reliable, a strong, almost brutal presence.  Dame Judi Dench is Dame Judi Dench, the focus of any scene she’s in.  Bardem is typically good and may be on his way to cornering the market on maniacal antagonists, following in the footsteps of Rutger Hauer, Dennis Hopper and Gary Oldman.  His Silva adds an unexpected dimension for a Bond villain.  Ralph Fiennes is under-utilized. Albert Finney is a treat the short time he’s on screen.  Both Bond love interests are forgettable.

Without giving away more of the plot, a big occurrence early in the film is never explained.  It nagged at me the rest of the picture.  I understand you have to suspend disbelief with many movies, especially Bonds, but this went past the bounds of acceptability.

As I watched it, I found Skyfall compelling and enjoyable and never once looked at my watch during its 143-minute running time.  I can’t say the same for the guy sitting a few seats over.   Still, it was a well-made, fast-paced movie with genuinely thrilling and suspenseful moments and some great actors.  The movie looks great, shot by Roger Deakins, who’s been behind the camera for “The Shawshank Redemption”, “Doubt”, “Kindun” and many Coen Brothers movies, including “Fargo”, “Oh Brother, Where Are Thou?” and “True Grit”.

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OK, here’s the lights-up-walking-out-of-the-theater chatter….

I have to recommend the movies “Sunshine” and “Spider” as both movies offering performances by Ralph Fiennes that really stuck with me.  In István Szabó‘s “Sunshine” he plays three generations of a Jewish family in 20th century Hungary. Aside from the acting itself, I found the role(s) interesting because it/they so strongly contrasted his role in “Schindler’s List.”  I’m still at a loss he didn’t win the Best Supporting Oscar for “Schindler”, although it’s hard to argue against Tommy Lee Jones winning for “The Fugitive.”  In David Cronenberg’s “Spider”, set in London, Fiennes’s character is institutionalized as a result of a childhood trauma.  I watched it on a screener VHS I got from Sony at the time of its release, so it didn’t have subtitles.  The significance of not having subtitles is I watched it three times — using headphones for the third viewing — before I realized Fiennes’ character’s incoherent mutterings were actually significant dialogue.  As great as he is, the real treat of the movie is seeing Miranda Richardson play multiple roles.  I don’t like to use the term “underrated” when talking about actors because if an actor’s working, they’re rated.  Still, Richardson is underrated and adds value to any film she’s in. “The Crying Game”, “The Hours” and “Sleepy Hollow” come to mind.  Gabriel Byrne — another actor I like and who is under-the-radar — is also in “Spider.”

I’ll often watch DVD movies with subtitles since I sometimes miss dialogue for one reason or another.  Occasionally outside sound drowns it out — especially when I lived in NYC — or the audience noise may be a factor or maybe just the ear-pounding special effects. (I may turn the volume down during loud passages then forget to turn the volume back up.)  Plus, you get off-screen dialogue that’s otherwise easy to miss.  I’ve discovered critical dialogue I didn’t catch during previous viewings of a movie when I see it at home with the sub-titles.

Dan

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