The Other Fellow (2023): A Little Shaken, Much Stirred

The opening night feature at the 2023 Alameda International Film Festival (running this weekend) was this very entertaining documentary about James Bonds. That’s not a typo. 

As you’d imagine, in addition to the aging yet sprightly (and fictional) 007, there are quite a few real people out there who happen to be named James Bond. They may not be as sexy, as debonaire or as deadly as the remarkably well known “secret” agent, but what is it like to be them? I mean, is it cool to introduce yourself as “Bond – James Bond”? Or is it a dispiriting drag to have people make the same lame jokes comparing you with that other guy on a daily basis … for your entire life?  

Keep in mind that the first Bond novel by Ian Fleming (Casino Royale) was published in 1953 – and over time a total of twelve novels and two volumes of short stories to follow over the years, as well as numerous Bond novels and short stories by other authors after Ian Fleming’s death. Plus – to date – there have been twenty-six phenomenally popular James Bond movies released over the last sixty years since the first one - Dr. No, starring Sean Connery - was released in 1962. It’s said that at least half the people in the world have seen at least one Bond film, and many more than that must know about the fabulous British spy. So, if your name is James Bond, something like five or six billion people around the world can wisecrack about it.

Writer/director Matthew Bauer, fresh out of film school, set out to answer this question about what that feels like, and the result is The Other Fellow, his first feature film. All told, it took Bauer and his team seven long years to research and produce this picture.  As it has turned out, the effort was worthwhile. The Other Fellow is a thoroughly engaging film, touching pretty much all the bases: it is a funny, informative, surprising, and affecting picture. It is also smartly constructed, with a number of cool touches that help to bring it off. Like the use of 007-like musical flourishes throughout the work.  

Of the thousands, if not millions, of possible subjects named James Bond, the movie gives us a score or more from throughout the world,  and settles on six or seven for a more in-depth view. There’s a Texas oilman, an actor/director, a preacher, an ornithologist, a businessman, and a museum director. And there’s a beguiling, endearing woman - a domestic violence victim, who, having fled from her dangerous ex-husband and changed her identity, renamed their son James Bond! Why? You’ll need to see the movie to understand her ingenious reasoning. 

The men The Other Fellow profiles are all interesting in the way they react to the question, but there are a few standouts who are profiled in greater depth: One is the man whose name Ian Fleming admittedly stole for his character, the author of the definitive Birds of the West Indies, a book that Fleming considered his bird-watching bible at his estate in Jamaica. Another is the young African-American  James Bond from Indiana who was arrested during a traffic stop for answering the cop’s question about his name, by stating the truth: James Bond, but was sentenced to jail time anyway by a racist judge, who apparently disapproved of a black man expressing incredulity at the charges against him. Yet another is the Swedish fellow, who became so enamored of the cinematic James Bond – seemingly the Pierce Brosnan incarnation – that he modelled his entire life on his idol.

The Other Fellow is a broadly enjoyable film, and a terrific achievement for a first feature film.  You don’t have to be a James Bond fan or a cinephile of any sort to enjoy this picture. It’s a very well made, always interesting, life affirming human interest story that you’ll likely want to tell your friends about. And it’s available on the big screen as well as streaming (see below).

80 minutes

Grade: B+

Released to select theaters on February 18, 2023; available to rent on many streaming platforms, including AppleTV and Amazon.