CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Live and Let Die

Director

Guy Hamilton

Year

1973

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

In spite of the weakness of Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond, those of us who hated Diamonds Are Forever (1971) were relieved to see this TV star become the British Agent. He was young, charming, and funny, and in all, a breath of fresh air for the series. That he didn’t become the best Bond overnight is no surprise, but the filmmakers are to blame in part; the second film to follow On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) is not even close in brilliancy or character development to the aforementioned, but instead, an average (or even below average) action film. But it’s a vast improvement over its immediate predecessor, so I’m not bitter about it at all.

The story has three British agents murdered in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Though their murders aren’t necessarily connected, they all seem to have something to do with drugs, so 007 agent James Bond (Moore) is sent to investigate. Aided by FBI agent Felix Leiter (this time played by David Hedison), our hero finds himself fighting less than ordinary drug dealers: The man on top, Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), relies strongly on his fanatic beliefs, which makes his web of crime rather unnatural. His team includes voodoo doctor Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), strongman Tee Hee (Julius Harris), and Priestess Solitaire (Jane Seymour).

Bond goes from Harlem to the Louisiana bayous chasing or being chased by the bad guys, and by that I mean literally chased, as the movie doesn’t miss the chance to include chases, be it by car or by boat.

The change in tone for a 007 film is rather drastic. Much like Ian Fleming’s novel upon which it’s based, Live and Let Die distances from the usual international intrigue and world domination plots and offers a darker story with unusual characters. Bond is more a stranger here than he ever was before, but unfortunately, the movie chickens away from true darkness and takes us to rather unnecessary chase sequences, and an even more unnecessary comic relief in the form of Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James).

The romance in the film isn’t far from ordinary at all. Seymour is lovely (very lovely), but miscast in her role as a Priestess. I would imagine her to be African-American like her associates, but instead we get a delicate white girl with a strong weakness towards Bond. It is romantic, and no one can deny it, but there’s no struggle there, only a bit of conflict on her side, which is easily shoved aside.

The final sequence, reminiscent of the most climatic scene from From Russia with Love (1963), works just fine, with Tee Hee’s prosthetic hook adding to the tension, but adds to the insanity of an unfocused film that’s more a mixture of ideas than a well-developed one. But even though it’s weak in many ways, it still manages to entertain.

The most famous aspect of this film is not Roger Moore’s casting, and definitely not his performance, but the main theme. This is the first Bond film with a score composed by other than John Barry (George Martin, to be precise) and has ok background music, but an unforgettable main theme, composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, and sung by Paul McCartney and Wings. It’s a classic, arguably the most famous Bond song, and one of the best.

Interesting entry, but rather forgettable. Followed by The Man with a Golden Gun.

“Is there time before we leave for lesson number three?”

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