Ok, this movie. I thought I rememebr this movie. I didn’t. I rememebred the poster. I remembered Rene Russo often having powerful female roles. I remeber Pierce Brosnan being Bond and always getting that suave lead role. This was a bizzarely appropriate first movie pick in this project. It really jolted me out of any potential nostalgia I could have harboured for future movies. Russo as the femme fetale role, that she absolutely owns I might add, felt almost out of place.

I was over Brosnan pretty fast. I think it could have been anyone handsome and rich looking in that role. It felt like he was trying to remind everyone he was more than Bond—one of his Bond movies is on the list—so how does he get out of the playboy, privilaged, women-want-me-and-men-want-to-be-me role that Bond used to be portrayed as? He plays a billionaire playboy, privilaged, women-want-me-and-men-want-to-be-me role. My first instinct was “the bored-billionare was a strange trope to play” Hoever I really had tot think about it. At the time the dot.com vibes were just starting. In fact, in 1999 there were 66 billionaires in the USA. in 2000 there were 298 (that was mostly due to a tax cut bill that the Repulicans put through the fall of 99 that Clinton vetoed first then let go through once he lowered the amoutn of tax-cuts the rich woiuld get. If you want to see how just bizzare it was 25 years ago, check out the cnn article that discusses Trump, yup-that one, suggesting that a one time tax on the 1% like himself would be a benefit to everyone in the States. Anyway, back to the movie!

Maybe its just me being gay, and still not really understanding why people have always found Brosnan attractive, I didn’t feel the sparks this movie was trying to protray. It felt very “the poor bored rich man, he is the victim” and lots of male gaze, like legs, legs, legs, curves, legs. eye-roll. Bitching asisde, there was some very cool Film Noir vibes, the cops seemed to be made to be “good” and not totally inept, so much as indifferent. They didn’t really add anythgin to the movie other than a reason to have Rene Russo do her thing. Pierce was….well, Pierce. There is a little to use, but it would be a fast-forward to the scenes.

What do you think?