June 02, 2023
'Casino Royale'
Do The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Amanda Dobbins look like they give a damn if their martini is shaken or stirred? They put on their tuxedos to revisit the first installment in the James Bond – Daniel Craig franchise 'Casino Royale,' starring Daniel Craig, Mads Mikkelsen, and Eva Green.
Cast
Daniel Craig as James Bond
Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
Judi Dench as M
Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter
Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis
Sebastien Foucan as Mollaka
Caterina Murino as Solange
Ivana Milicevic as Valenka
Tobias Menzies as Villiers
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Written by: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis
Cinematography by: Phil Meheux
Music by: David Arnold
Notes
- Budget: $150 million. Box office: $650 million.
- Paul Haggis did an uncredited rewrite of the last ~30 minutes of the script.
- The Aston Martin rotated 7 times during the crash scene – a Guinness World Record.
- The Venetian house collapse was the largest rig ever built for a Bond film (90 tons).
- Daniel Craig gained 20 lbs of muscle for the role.
- MGM got the 'Casino Royale' rights from Sony by trading 'Spider-Man' rights.
- Austin Powers was cited as having 'kind of ruined James Bond' by parodying its excesses. The Bourne franchise was credited with inspiring the scaled-down, practical approach.
- Layer Cake (2004) was called Daniel Craig's 'live audition for James Bond.'
- Henry Cavill was the only other serious contender for Bond, but was only 22.
- Olivia Wilde was one of two finalists for Vesper alongside Eva Green.
- Le Chiffre's bleeding eye is a real medical condition called Hemolacria.
Categories
Most re-watchable scene
- Bill: The climactic poker scene – and also the construction site parkour chase.
- Sean: The opening parkour chase through the construction site. Sebastian Foucan (one of the founders of parkour) is 'possibly the greatest athlete of all time.'
- Amanda: The train scene where Bond and Vesper first meet and spar verbally.
What aged the best?
- Eva Green's performance.
- The scaled-down, post-9/11 financial terrorism plot.
- Dame Judi Dench as M – 'throwing heat.'
- The locations: Bahamas, Montenegro, Venice, Lake Como.
- The 1964 Aston Martin.
- Bond's tuxedo – 'that thing was elite.'
- Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name.'
- Practical effects over CGI as a deliberate choice.
- Parkour – 'what a moment for parkour.'
- Mads Mikkelsen's 'douchey lower lip curl face.'
What aged the worst?
- Sony product placement – Sony Ericsson phones and Sony Vaio laptops. 'The Vaio has like 3 moments in the movie.' Neither product exists anymore.
- Bond's stunt double wig – 'really, really tough' blonde wig.
- The Bodies Exhibit (Body Worlds) in Miami – 'a very dated mid-2000s reference.'
- Bond falling in love in a week – Bill's wife: 'James Bond doesn't fall in love in a week.'
Who won the movie?
- Sean: The James Bond franchise won the movie.
- Amanda: Barbara Broccoli / the Broccoli family – the stewards of the franchise.
- Bill: Agrees with the franchise answer but says Mads Mikkelsen 'kind of secretly wins the movie. He stealth wins it with the villain performance.'
Casting what-ifs
- Quentin Tarantino wanted to direct 'Casino Royale' – he would have set it in the 1960s with Pierce Brosnan and made the torture scene worse.
- Henry Cavill was the only other serious contender for Bond but was only 22.
- Olivia Wilde was one of two finalists for Vesper alongside Eva Green. All three hosts agreed the role had to be European.
Apex Mountain
- Daniel Craig – yes. 'He became an A+ lister after this.' Amanda locates his true apex at marrying Rachel Weisz (2011) + 'Skyfall' (2012).
- Eva Green – yes. 'It's the biggest movie she's ever been in.'
- Aston Martin DB9 – yes.
- Tuxedos – 'Has there ever been a better tuxedo moment in a movie?'
- James Bond franchise – no, apex is Doctor No / Goldfinger era.
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“Craig makes a superb Bond – a tough, brooding 007 who gives the sense of a hard man wounded by life and his job, who nevertheless cares about people and right and wrong.”
Also: 'All the answers to all my complaints about the 45-year James Bond series. Specifically, why nobody in a Bond movie ever seems to have any real emotions.'
Over-acting award
- Alex Demetrios (the Greek guy) – 'He's very TV actor-ish.'
- Caterina Murino (Mrs. Demetrios) – Amanda's pick. 'The horse is a lot.'
Best "heat check" performance
- Bill: Sebastian Foucan – the parkour athlete Bond chases in the opening. 'It's got to be the goat athlete in the beginning.'
- Amanda: Ivana Milicevic (the villain's girlfriend).
- Le Chiffre's final poker hand – he stayed in with bad cards (ace-six, two pair) against multiple players with $40 million in front of him. Sean: 'It was a heat check. He fucked up.'
Best "that guy"
- Bill: Ivana Milicevic – 'She was on That Girl' and Banshee.
- Sean: Tobias Menzies – 'At this time was a that guy, but he has been elevated.'
- Giancarlo Giannini was discussed but deemed too recognizable to qualify.
Re-casting couch
- Bill proposed more fun poker table cameos: Pat Riley, Jack White, and Lauryn Hill.
- Steve Buscemi in the Giancarlo Giannini (Mathis) role.
- Steve Buscemi or Samuel L. Jackson at the poker table.
Half-assed (internet) research
- The opening graphic design was inspired by the 1953 book cover – 'a playing card bordered by red hearts stripped in blood.'
- The Aston Martin rotated 7 times during the crash and set a Guinness World Record.
- The Venetian house collapse rig was the largest ever built for a Bond film – 90 tons.
- Daniel Craig gained 20 lbs of muscle – mostly proteins, minimizing carbs, training 5 days/week.
- Ford paid 14 million pounds for the Mondeo product placement.
- 3 Aston Martins were destroyed at $300,000 each.
- Le Chiffre's bleeding eye is a real condition: Hemolacria.
- First Bond movie dubbed in Chinese for Chinese cinemas – they added extra dialogue to explain Texas Hold 'em.