QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) // James Bond Review and Whisky Pairing
"Quantum of Solace" Plot
Quantum member Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) seeks to corner the Bolivan water market and Bond (Daniel Craig) chases an Algerian love knot.
Whiskey Lore Review
What? Quantum in the Top 5? Am I absolutely nuts?
Hear me out. I think this movie's reputation suffered from a couple of bad decisions. First, they decided to make the Craig years a serial and we as Bond fans weren't used to that. Second, they didn't do a good job of helping me "remember" details from Casino, so half the time I felt lost watching this movie. And finally, cornering the market on water was kind of a weak story line.
What changed me from being disappointed in this movie to loving it is realizing that it is the resolution to the Casino Royale story. Now I watch it back to back with Casino and it becomes much more enjoyable. And once I allow myself to enjoy it, I start to realize it has some of my favorite scenes in the franchise.
Let's start with the opening. What an incredible car chase we're on. Talk about adrenaline. I've driven that road around Lake Garda in Italy. It's stunning and it's hard to imagine how they even filmed that. We end up with the stunning image of the Italian town of Siena and the banged up Aston, only to find Mr. White in the trunk.
One of the funniest moments is when Strawberry Fields takes Bond and Mathis to a low rent hotel "it fits our cover, we're teachers on sabbatical" - Bond says "no it doesn't." Then they go to the best hotel in town - Bond "we're teachers on a sabbatical and we just won the lottery" I laugh hard at this every time. Bond is cold when he puts Mathis in the dumpster, but he shows that he cared for the man during the death scene. The supporting cast in all of the Craig films are top notch. I love when M gets exasperated with Bond, "if you can avoid killing every possible lead." And after seeing Strawberry Fields done in with oil, it is so fitting that he hands Dominic Greene a can of oil in the desert.
In a way, this is a similar type story to License To Kill and could very easily have fallen into plain action movie territory, but it has so many great flourishes to it. In the end, he finds Vesper's boyfriend, but keeps his cool
Best of the movie: Daniel Craig is likely a huge reason this movie shines through what was a less than inspiring plot line. He's not saving the world, but he is saving one corner of it, and doing it with style and a charisma that always shines through.
Memorable moment: The meeting of Quantum at the Bregenz Theatre in Austria is beautifully shot. Bond butting in on their conversation is priceless. And the music playing during gun play is extremely well done.
Where it goes wrong: Apparently there was a writer's strike and that was the reason the movie was the shortest of the series. I used to not like the Alisha Keys/Jack White theme, but it has grown on me.
Paired Whisky: Glenglassaugh Torfa Peated Highland Single Malt Whisky
I paired this with Glenglassaugh's Torfa because I think it surprises you at first, and the more you dig into it, the more you realize how much you like it! In that way, it is like the Vesper martini of scotch for me.
Whiskey Lore Rank: #5 (Score 7.88) > Next Movie
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