Becoming Bond

You know the story: Australian male model living in England is selected to play James Bond after Connery quits. After making one movie, Australian himself walks away from Bond, leaving the door open for Connery's return.

What you probably don't know is who this George Lazenby was (and is) and why he turned his back on what could have been a career of a lifetime. Watch this movie and George himself will tell you. Accompanying and illustrating his tale are mostly-comedic reenactments that all in all make the story work.

It's the next best thing to sitting down with the man himself.

I saw "Becoming Bond" as someone who isn't even a Bond fan, and hasn't seen half the films. The unlikely story of George Lazenby is told so entertainingly and engagingly, however, that Lazenby's solitary Bond flick "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" is now on top of my Netflix queue. The filmmakers brilliantly turned Lazenby's own magnetic (and at times hard-to-believe) retelling of his life into a hilarious drunk-history-style re-creation that also manages to inspire. Great film.

Rather charming, if unevenly paced, story of George Lazenby. Depicts him as an almost Forrest Gump character who just stumbles into meeting the Prime Minister of Australia, moving to London, becoming a top model, hanging out with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, then finally becoming Bond. George is obviously an unreliable narrator but so is the filmmaker. Who knows what was left on the cutting room floor, but George could have been asked more probing questions or other aspects of his life could have been added.

This bio does make it sound like George just totally retired from Hollywood after one movie, raised a family, and raced motorcycles. But we know that's not true. And we know there much be much more to the story of why he quit. Is George a dumb guy who just fell into fame due to good looks, confidence, and luck, or is he actually incredibly wise, zen, and uncomplicated? You're not sure after watching this. He definitely was a product of his time.

The first half is fun but slow. I don't blame George's story, just the way it's presented. Way too much time was spent on George's first love, who obviously still means a great deal to him but he treated her poorly. The guy who plays George is hilarious though he tends to disappear in the second half when we finally get to making Bond. Then many clips of the real young George are used instead of reenactments. Jane Seymour completely steals the show with just a few looks. The ending, post-Bond, is very abrupt and felt unfinished. Like the real Drunk History, this ends up being a fun, superficial story of a real event that perhaps makes you want to do more of your own research to get the true story.

I did not know about Mr. Lazenby's background (as a model and non-actor), so I'm even more surprised at the great job he did performing as James Bond. He had a smooth delivery and looked right at ease in the role. I never understood why he didn't star in another James Bond movie until this film. It was great listening to his life story, and I'm glad he did well after the Bond role. It's too bad he was black-listed after the Bond movie 'cause he had a great screen presence. Wonderful person and full of life - thoroughly enjoyed "Becoming Bond."

I was looking forward to watching this documentary as OHMSS is one of my favourite Bond films and I've read so many conflicting tales about why George quit the series on a high, etc.

George comes across very well and proves he's not afraid to show emotion on screen with a rather personal moment he shares with us regarding an early love of his. I've always considered him to be an excellent screen presence in OHMSS and, even almost 50 years on, he's still a very engaging screen presence. After listening and watching all his anecdotes spread through the reenactment scenes, I found myself wishing he'd continued the series and taken better advice. No spoilers, however.

I wasn't so satisfied with the reenactment and mostly found myself wishing that we could have just had George talking to the camera for the movies duration and left our imagination to picture the scenes. However, a plus point for Jane Seymour's brief part in these scenes. It's wonderful to see her on screen again in this. Memories of Solitaire in Live and Let die all came back when I twigged it was her. Additionally, I thought Clementi - apologies if I've spelt that wrong - was perfect for her part, as she's a stunning girl and came across extremely well in all her scenes. If George's real girlfriend of the time looked like her then it's obvious why he was so smitten.

As for the actor playing younger George, I'm not so convinced. He comes across as a competent enough actor but he looks nothing like the George of 1968 when he was filming OHMSS. That did put me off when they inter-spaced interview clips of the real George from the time and the actor reenacting them. Very distracting.

I do heartily recommend this documentary for anyone wanting to know the story but, no offense to George, I don't think he was telling us everything when you recall all the stories over the years.

Other insights make me question the details when, at the beginning of the film he states that illness in early childhood only left him with half a kidney, yet the trivia section on George states early on that at one point in his life he donated a kidney to a family member. Work that one out.

In conclusion: I enjoyed it a lot but most of that is just listening to George himself rather than the actors reenactment.