The Other Fellow

Extremely happy to not only have seen the world premiere of this fantastic documentary last night at the Civic in Auckland, but I'm also the first to post a review of it here on IMDb.

THE OTHER FELLOW charts men around the globe who all carry the name James Bond. It is at times both hilarious and tragic, with a number of emotional hooks that underline the film.

Superbly made - particularly the editing (and sound editing) - it's a film that explores the curse, or perhaps the benefit, of having such a name 60 years after Ian Fleming made it famous. The archival footage of Fleming talking about how he arrived at the name - an interview very familiar to James Bond fans - is painted in a different light here, as we see the 'theft' of the name from the viewpoint of the OG James Bond, the ornithologist and author whose book on birds of the West Indies Fleming lifted it from.

There's a lovely thriller element in the last third of the film which takes a few surprising turns, and adds yet another layer on the benefit / curse of the name.

I wonder how George Lazenby is going to react to the film given that he's so far been the #1 Australian association with Bond. The director of THE OTHER FELLOW, Matthew Bauer, is Australian, and the name of the film is lifted from perhaps Lazenby's most famous line of dialogue.

A life-affirming documentary that should appeal to all audiences - whether you're a fan of the Bond films or not.