The Other Fellow

This documentary literally comprises a bunch of random anecdotes from people who are, in real life, named James Bond.. or know someone named James Bond. The result is a banal, random assortment of stories that really have nothing to do with one another, let alone the fandom that probably brought you here in the first place. Its license to thrill doesn't need to be revoked, because it never existed in the first place. Beware. The other fellow never had to sit through sh1te like this. They need more characters from me, apparently, so this message will self destruct in T minus... blah, blah, blah, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE.

Hello, I am James J. Bond. My coworker pointed this documentary film out to me, and I have to admit I was a little annoyed that nobody contacted me. I've suffered the affliction of having this name since my birth in the Roger Moore era. I found it interesting that several of the other fellows shared similar life-experiences: The anxiety of public roll calls, full name introductions, listening to the same awkward jokes from different people year-after-year and decade-after-decade. Also, having trouble with authority figures when they think you are messing with them upon asking your name. My name nearly led to my arrest on one occasion when I happened to look like the perpetrator. Although I will admit that there have been advantages that came with the package as well. As stated by a few others in the film, the name is a "blessing and a curse". By complete coincidence, I too, am an ornithologist and natural historian (albeit, amateur) like the gentlemen that originally loaned his name to Ian Fleming. If they ever decide to make a sequel, I believe I have some interesting stories to tell. This never happened to the other fellow.

Although I have not seen a James Bond film in many years, I was unexpectedly amazed at The Other Fellow.

Ian Fleming was living in Jamaica in the 1950s when he came up with the idea of his now world famous series of books and, later, movies. The name James Bond was taken from a book about birds by an ornithologist living in Pennsylvania at the time.

An incredibly diverse set of individuals sharing the name of the 007 spy are profiled and interviewed.

A man originally from Germany and living in Sweden runs a James Bond museum and his story is an unusual one.

A white man and Black man both live in Indiana and their perspectives are quite different, although they are both named James Bond.

A woman in England had a brilliant solution to a stalker ex-husband which is both frightening and whimsical.

Once again, as with the 2022 Best Picture, the Oscars blew it by not selecting this movie as Best Documentary.

Do not miss this great movie.

Extremely happy to not only have seen the world premiere of this fantastic documentary last night at the Civic in Auckland, but I'm also the first to post a review of it here on IMDb.

THE OTHER FELLOW charts men around the globe who all carry the name James Bond. It is at times both hilarious and tragic, with a number of emotional hooks that underline the film.

Superbly made - particularly the editing (and sound editing) - it's a film that explores the curse, or perhaps the benefit, of having such a name 60 years after Ian Fleming made it famous. The archival footage of Fleming talking about how he arrived at the name - an interview very familiar to James Bond fans - is painted in a different light here, as we see the 'theft' of the name from the viewpoint of the OG James Bond, the ornithologist and author whose book on birds of the West Indies Fleming lifted it from.

There's a lovely thriller element in the last third of the film which takes a few surprising turns, and adds yet another layer on the benefit / curse of the name.

I wonder how George Lazenby is going to react to the film given that he's so far been the #1 Australian association with Bond. The director of THE OTHER FELLOW, Matthew Bauer, is Australian, and the name of the film is lifted from perhaps Lazenby's most famous line of dialogue.

A life-affirming documentary that should appeal to all audiences - whether you're a fan of the Bond films or not.