I watched Stranger Than Fiction the other night. I quite liked it. In the same vein as Eternal Sunshine and I
Huckabees, but I liked this one best. Forster certainly brings out good performances from his cast.
That said, I didn't like it that much. At only 1hr 40mins, it seemed a lot longer than it was. The direction was pretty unobtrusive, which I quite liked. I don't like Bond directors getting in between us and Bond if you know what I mean. (Campbell and Tamorhi were prime offenders in that regard.) Ultimately the film never really picked up speed for me. One scene after another. And not a bundle of laughs.
I sense Forster will go either the way of Spottiswoode or Apted. (TND or TWINE).
You can guess the way a director is going to turn out usually. I saw No Escape before Campbell did GE and could see
a) He wasn't that different from Glen, just some flashy camera angles.
b) He hadn't assimilated the lessons of Die Hard etc. Action scenes weren't from the hero's pov, but with the camera outside the action, like from 20 feet away.
c) A slightly cold, uninvolving but efficient style.
Spottiswoode was more solid, more grounded, a bit opaque judging from Air American and And The Band Played On. Not very flash or fun.
Tamorhi, from watching Along Came A Spider?
a) No directorial flair, just one scene after another, not involving, no mean feat considering the serial killer type thriller is a formula that's hard to mess up.
b) Ludicrous CGI stunt
c) Utterly implausible plot twist
d) One very good, breathtaking action scene.
Which is about how DAD panned out.
So I'm not crazy about Bond 22 though I can see that Forster is competent enough and certainly the most A-list director they've probably ever had in terms of recent hits.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017