Becoming Bond

A surprisingly fascinating and engrossing film. It's literally one interview with some lovely re-enactment footage intercut. So simple and yet so affecting. Very entertaining. Highly recommended for all Bond fans.

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 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.

George Lazenby has become a polished story teller about all his Bond experiences. They are very interesting and he has become, over the years, very good at telling these stories and presenting them in both a fascinating and very humorous manner.

We were in stitches.

The wonderful thing about seeing a film in a festival setting is that there is not an empty seat to be found, and that every chair has in it a responsive audience member that is hanging on every word and laughing out loud en mass.

George, who has retired to somewhere California told one of his stories to the right ear. Someone who knew a couple of young, up and coming, very talented film makers. Who after several 3 and a half hour lunches listening to George decided they wanted to make a movie with him.

This was a wonderful screening at this years Hot Docs film festival with a wonderful Q&A where I was able to both speak with the film makers themselves as well as George who picked up when the director called him from the stage. He shared some additional insights through the auditoriums sound system but we all would have loved to see him.

Very good show.

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."