Daniel Craig

It's been a while since Ross and I saw the new James Bond movie (Casino Royale) and one would think that the impact would have worn off, but I retain an "admiration" for Daniel Craig that shocks me with its intensity. Ha ha.

There's something about him. Of course there's his physical presence, his extremely honed physique, which I'm happy to say we get plenty of in the movie. Even if you haven't seen it you've probably seen photos of the "rising out of the ocean" scene - a situation reserved for Bond girls in previous movies. He's got muscles - plenty of them.

But it's more than that, and the reviews all seem to touch on the element that really grabbed me about this movie. He's profoundly human. He performs amazing physical feats in the movie but one always feels that he is at the same time vulnerable. This is a Bond who can be hurt; who suffers pain both emotional and physical. A Bond who is tortured, who puts an impassive face on a troubled soul.

As we got to the meat of the story at the Casino, and Bond's relationship with Vesper began to blossom into something new (for him), I found myself watching his face on screen with a tender concern. There was a fascination for me in watching the killer morph into the man; seeing a gentle side emerge from the ruthless spy. When he finds her curled in the cold shower, struggling in shock to wipe the blood (long gone) from her hands, his reaction is at once surprising and endearing. One gets the feeling that other men might take charge in an authoritarian manner; turning off the water and putting her to bed, or talking to her, commanding her to come back to the here and now. Bond, however, joins her in wordless comfort, providing an unspeaking but very real protection. "I'm here," his actions say. "I will make it better. You are safe."

Of course he can't make it better because he doesn't know the half of it. And that's all I'll say on the subject except that his eventual steely-eyed resolve to get to the heart of the matter is all the more thrilling and visceral because we know the pain and the beating heart behind the newly-earned ruthlessness.

Ah, Daniel Craig. You made Bond real for me, and I look forward to future opportunities to watch you work. Especially if they involve rising out of the ocean in a tiny Speedo.