Fleming

"Fleming" this is unarguably a piece of fiction with a few bits of truth. "The Man Who Never Was" featured in this program is Non Fiction by author Ewen Montagu. "Fleming" is a brilliant mini-series with a stellar cast but please be advised that it is only very loosely based on his life story. How do we know this? Well here is the evidence for this statement. The last episode of the mini-series (which was probably the best one) features the true story of "The Man Who Never Was" a book famously written by The Hon. Ewen Montagu C.B.E. D.L. Q.C.) It is the true story about a dead man's body clothed in the uniform of a British senior officer with an attaché case handcuffed to it. In the attaché case were planted bogus secret documents outlining bogus plans for the 1944 Allied landings in Europe. This was left by a British submarine off the coast of Spain in a place where it was know it would be swept ashore and reported to a very active German spy network working in the area, based there to spy on the British naval dockyards at Gibraltar. The actress Lara Pulver who plays his then girlfriend is probably the most beautiful woman we have ever seen on the screen c 2014 and will probably look like she does in this film for ever.igw

Rarely TV serials adopt the idea of 'Art-house' production, and this is one of them. Another gem from the BBC production. Story of the creator of 007 who himself is a legend in thus arena, perhaps one of the most influential one. At first glance I thought it contains style over substance but in time everything worked out just fine ! This is not just another espionage story of WWII, rather the script mingled the personal and professional life of Fleming brilliantly. Dominic Cooper was an excellent choice, he can play the hard-boiled spoiled brat quite fascinatingly, we all have seen it in 'The Devil's Double'. Lara Pulver was naturally brilliant in the seductive dominatrix role as usual. Only if they could let the 'blond Muriel' stay a bit longer !

Its not easy to bring-up the story of someone with so many 'issues' meticulously, but they tried and didn't fail ! Its no hardcore action flick like 007, rather vintage flavoured of WWII, the set decoration was quite believable. And most of all, this series is 'Hot', and hot means 'Haught' ! Waiting for the final instalment !

From the very beginning, we're gently nudged towards the idea that the inspiration to Ian Fleming for James Bond was... Fleming himself. As fictional as that may be, and there are reasons to appreciate it for the entertainment value at least, young Fleming's routine gets old really really fast. The boozing, womanizing, good-for-nothing, but ultimately lovable scoundrel has been portrayed in many a production before. Nothing bad about Dominic Cooper's performance, and he does radiate a certain charm, but really... there's only so much dickish behavior one's charm can excuse.

Ultimately, I got bored by Fleming's antics and the repeated, sanitized sex scenes. The central plot never grasped me and frankly, I ended up not caring particularly much for any of the characters - least of all the titular one.

It's not a bad product per se. But not a very good one either.

Dominic Cooper should be on the British honors list one day. He was terrific in his role as Ian Fleming, a British playboy who became a British spy during World War II. Ian Fleming was the author of the James Bond super spy novels. He had lived an interesting life himself. The four part series included Fleming's own playboy relationships with women bordering misogynistic. Lesley Manville was perfect as his mother. Anna Chancellor was terrific as the Officer Monday who would later be characterized as Miss Moneypenny. While the four part series was quite entertaining, you didn't want it to end too.

This is a quote excellent four part story which looks at the life of Ian Fleming, his wartime career, the time before he became famous for James Bond.

Fleming is portrayed as a Bond life character he, he guns down Nazis, takes up secret missions, and certainly puts it about.

It's a very raunchy drama, Fleming was certainly a man for the ladies. Cooper cuts a dashing figure as Fleming, you can't help but see flashes of Bond. Laura Pulver is wonderful as Ann, they make a great duo.

A wonderful, dazzling production, it looks amazing, smart costumes, great sets, they didn't go overboard with special effects thankfully.

Well worth a watch, 8/10.