The Rebirth of a Legend

I spoke today with a man who starts work at 4:30 every morning. Hours before sunrise he's on the phone with China, finding out what happened in the few precious hours he spent disconnected from the world. His life is an ever-unfolding crisis, played out at breakneck speed without pause for reflection. His only past is historical sales data, his only future is this quarter's analyst predictions, and he runs like the wind just to keep up with a present moment that threatens always to outpace him. And yet, is this man any happier than I? Is he any wiser than I? Quite possibly, and he makes millions of dollars more than I do.

All of which is by way of saying that I want to talk about the new James Bond. When I went to see 'Casino Royale' last weekend, I sat down with all the natural trepidation of a man about to witness the future of a beloved franchise surrounded by people who laugh at previews of the movie 'Norbit'. Speaking of which, what is it going to take to get Eddie Murphy extraordinary-renditioned out of our lives? I want him wearing a box of rats in Room 101, and I want the official record amended to state that he was accidentally freebased by Nick Nolte on the set of 'Another 48 Hrs' back in 1995. Incidentally, IMDB claims that Eddie Murphy is sometimes credited as 'Fred Braughton'. And not just when arrested in the company of transvestite hookers.

I digress.

As any Bond fan worthy of the name knows, there has been exactly 1 (one) James Bond. His friends call him Mr. Connery, out of respect, but his mother calls him Sean. Since SC gave up his double-oh status, his successors have ranged from 'lousy' to 'Roger-Moore-take-your-wrinkled-hands-off-Jane-Seymour' -- and though there have been a few good performances (Timothy Dalton is always worth watching) nobody has ever recaptured the essence that made Bond … well, Bond. Until now.

Enter Daniel Craig. The seven of us who actually watched 'L4yer Cake' had high hopes for this young man: we knew he could be cool, we knew he could pout intensely at a camera lens, and we knew that he could summon a wry smile mere milliseconds after shooting a total stranger in the head. But could he be Bond, we wondered? Could he be the lovably sociopathic embodiment of sangfroid we've been pining for?

He could. He is. And he is more than that: he is Bond 2.0, a Bond for the new millennium. He is not 'the next Sean Connery' -- from now on, all new Bond actors (assuming we can't keep Craig in cryostasis between filmings to extend his usefulness indefinitely) will be 'the next Daniel Craig'.

Don't believe me? See the damn movie. And when you do, send Mr. Craig a vial of the tears you wept in shame for ever having doubted him.

-A