THE LESSONS OF LAYER CAKE AS THEY RELATE TO JAMES BOND

This post started as something else: a description of my “Monday Movie Marathon,” or at least my attempt at one. I’ve been trying to enjoy at least a little bit of my unemployment, but my brain doesn’t seem to work that way — I’m too stressed about finding work and feel like I should be spending every spare second “looking,” whatever that means. But yesterday I decided I really needed to see a bunch of movies. I didn’t get to as many as I had hoped — scheduling screw-ups — but the first one of the day was Layer Cake, the new British drug gangster film from director Matthew Vaughn. I started writing a post about my day, with brief reviews of all three films I saw when suddenly I found myself off on a tangent (shocking!) regarding James Bond. Next thing I knew, I’d written a ton without even mentioning much about Layer Cake other than, “I liked it.” Critical analysis at its best, if I do say so myself.

I’ll still get to talking about the three Monday movies in another post, but for now, I want to share with you what I learned from Layer Caker, and it has nothing to do with British drug pushers or organized crime.

Vaughn is most notable recently for dropping out of helming X3 reportedly because he didn’t want to leave his two kids and wife Claudia Schiffer for such a long time. Well … that might be understandable, and it may even be true. It’s more likely, however, that he and the studio weren’t getting along on budget or the way the film should be made and the story told, etc. It seems shocking that a studio would willingly let a director out of a contract on a tentpole summer picture that is their likely big money maker just because he’s going to miss his family. But whatever: this is Hollywood and X3 is now Brett Ratner‘s problem. I guess that could make it our problem too, but I’ll withhold judgment and let Brett prove himself on something that may actually fit his seeming affinity for superkinetic movement onscreen. But I digress….

Why is this important? Well, Vaughn is out of work now. Free and clear. And the first lesson of Layer Cake is that Vaughn is a very talented director. Martin Campbell, on the other hand, is not.

Don’t get me wrong. Campbell is a very competent director, but he brings absolutely nothing to the table other than competence. Yet Campbell, who previously directed the Bond film GoldenEye, will be directing Casino Royale. Campbell makes primarily big action movies with very little flair. He’s not going to ruin the film; he’s just not going to make it anything special and all of the script’s flaws will be enhanced. If they really want to revitalize the Bond franchise, they need to hire a younger director who can do more than create a straight action vehicle. I still think Tarantino – who wanted to direct a film of Casino Royale — would have been an interesting, albeit risky, choice. I think he has enough reverence for the character and the series to not let his ego get too much in the way.

I think Vaughn would be an even better choice, and I saw things in Layer Cake that made me say, “Oh my god. Please someone get Campbell fired and let this guy direct Casino Royale!” It would be a great match. (By the way, I didn’t love Layer cake. I liked it a hell of a lot, but it is certainly flawed. Yet it shows a director who, if he doesn’t get in his own way especially stylistically, should have a very exciting career.)

The second lesson of Layer Cake concerns the film’s star Daniel Craig who is absolutely magnificent. In late-April, just as Layer Cake was about to have its New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Craig became the latest rumored choice to play James Bond. When he arrived for the first screening, it was all the paparazzi and entertainment reporters wanted to ask him as he walked the press line: “Are you the next James Bond?” “How do you feel about the rumors of being the next James Bond?” “When will we know?” Etc. (Craig primarily used a smile and silence as his response.)

Now I have repeatedly dealt with the issue of who should be the next Bond (most notably here), and I stand by my opinion that Clive Owen would not just be the best choice for Bond, but with the right script — particularly in an adaptation of Casino Royale, Ian Fleming’s original Bond novel filled with the most character elements – Owen could be the best Bond ever. Sure nostalgia continues to favor Sean Connery, but I dare Barbara Broccoli to prove me wrong — I don’t think she can.

Oh yeah, what did I learn about Daniel Craig? I learned that while he could capably play the role and he’s a phenomenal actor, he’s absolutely the wrong choice. As much as I really would love to see Craig become a huge star, and I even think I understand why he’s being considered – he’s sort of the anti-Pierce Brosnan – please please please, not as Bond.

There’s a very simple reality here, and I’m more sure of this than almost any hypothetical I can imagine dealing with movies and casting: Vaughn directing Owen in a production of Casino Royale, and we’ll have the best James Bond movie ever — just thinking about it gets the film geek in me more excited than just about any movie coming out the rest of this year.