A running gag develops every time Daniel Craig returns to the table, first with a new dress shirt (after his tux gets bloodied) then following his near-death escape. There is also a harrowing attempt by Le Chiffre's blonde bombshell to poison Bond during the game. There's a brutal fight down a hotel staircase between Bond and the African thugs out to get the indebted Le Chiffre (whose scheme to make millions off the stock market by blowing up a new jumbo jet was thwarted by Bond in Act I). To keep things from going static, Campbell has to build character, generate suspense, and, yes, raise the stakes.Īll of these elements are deftly woven together, elevated by witty dialogue and broken up by tense action scenes. The marathon poker game between James Bond, Le Chiffre and a handful of supporting players is the centerpiece of the film.
In Casino Royale, however, Campbell has his work cut out for him.
In classic films like The Sting, decent movies like Rounders and mediocrities like 21, card-playing scenes accomplish dual objectives: they generate suspense from the outcome of the games themselves and they tell you something about the characters at the table. Gambling is a surprisingly cinematic activity. Welcome to Part Four of our series, where we discuss Act II of Casino Royale - the heart of the movie with plenty of goings-on.
