Becoming Bond (2017)

This is a movie about George Lazenby, who played the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The movie is narrated by Lazenby. It begins with his early life before he got the role of James Bond. He was born and raised in Australia. He wasn't much of a student and didn't graduate from high school. He got a job repairing cars but moved on to become a car salesman at the same car dealership. He fell in love with Belinda, a woman he met at an embassy party, and ended up following her to England, where he found work selling cars once again.

Before too long he found work as a male model. He and Belinda lived together for a time but eventually she left him after he cheated on her. George continued to work as a model until an older woman urged him to go out for the role of James Bond. He had never been in a movie before. He had to trick his way in to see the man casting the movie. Everything went well until the movie was finished shooting. The studio tried pressuring him into signing a long-term contract. He didn't like the look of things so he didn't.

Instead he grew a beard and let his hair grow long. He showed up on TV shows like Johnny Carson looking very different than he did in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He never made another Bond movie. He worked in real estate, got married, and did some acting. Becoming Bond ends with Lazenby explaining that he doesn't regret his choice to not sign the contract.

Lazenby's story is recreated visually as he relates it to the audience. There is very little footage of young Lazenby. Most of the story is told through recreations of stories that he relates.

My biggest problem with this movie is that it is entirely told from one perspective. The narrator is also the subject. Other people have written about Lazenby and have opinions of him (in particular in regards to his involvement in the James Bond movie) which can be found online. It would have been nice if some of that could have been found in this movie. I'm not sure what the exact definition of a documentary is but this doesn't feel like a documentary to me.

I like the way the story is broken up into chapters of varying lengths. All chapter titles are all riffs on the titles of James Bond movies or one-liners from the movies.

Chapter 1 You Only Live Once
Chapter 2 The Road to Pussy Galore
Chapter 3 Try Another Day
Chapter 4 For Her Eyes Only
Chapter 5 From Australia with Love
Chapter 6 The Guy Who Loved Me
Chapter 7 Single Oh Seven
Chapter 8 The Man with the Golden Tongue
Chapter 9 Unlicensed to Kill
Chapter 10 Tomorrow Sometimes Dies
Chapter 11 Shaken Not Deterred
Chapter 12 The World Is Never Enough
Chapter 13 Decisions Are Forever