I went to see ‘Quantum of Solace’ for the second time a few evenings ago after treating myself to a thick steak at Earls. It was the day that I took my ninth NCARB exam and I wanted to just sit back and put the brain in neutral and get entertained. Brain downtime.

A few observations about the movie: one is that this Bond differs from previous versions in that he never stops to take a breath or take the time to enjoy life and its finer distractions… the ladies. Isn’t that the point of being James Bond? The women? The car, the danger, the duds, the exploits around the globe… c’mon man, you gotta leverage that good stuff into what life is really about. Those are the means, not the end. It’s all about the ladies. Historically, film Bonds had their priorities correctly aligned. And lounging was part of the act, because seduction was an art whose practice required at least a bit of time. At least one drink. Previous Bonds leveraged their business for their pleasure, taking plenty of downtime for themselves. They were always arriving in town early enough to strut around the hotel room, unpack, check the room for bugs, take a shower, get out only to discover some enemy flunky hiding in the closet. So you throw off the balcony into the pool, come back inside to put on the cufflinks, straighten the tie and wink at yourself in the mirror. Then he’ll glide down to the casino to position himself at the table right next to the hottest gal in the house or the quirkiest looking evil guy, order the drink, and then just take some more time to smoulder for a while at the card table. Plenty of time to make sly eye gestures and ignite conversation that consists of only semi-witty innuendo one-liners. He was an old-school seducer. The patient kind. Never rushed.

But this new Bond takes no time to lay the ground-work to get the ladies. They are a non-priority and luckily for him, they just show up. So he doesn’t have to be the seducer. Actually, it doesn’t seem that he even cares about chasing women. He operates with no ulterior yet obvious motive; he only has one and he stays on task. Instead of showing up in town early to bed some broads,

he rolls up just in time and immediately starts destroying stuff. The word “efficient” is used a couple times in the movie to describe his style. His whole schtick is efficient: the way he drives, the way he kills, the way he talks, it’s all efficient. The character has adapted to the taste of the impatient, gratification-seeking movie-goer of today. He seeks out action, he doesn’t wait for the right moment to pounce; he takes whatever moment is there, right or not. He never hesitates and takes no Bond-time for the pursuit of well, happiness. He’s the no downtime Bond.

And he wears jeans. I did enjoy seeing all of his fine clothing get soiled with blood or dirt or both; no suit was too precious to him to be spared. One time use apparel: wear, soil, and discard. Then get yer jeans on. The denim Bond. Well, jeans are efficient… you know, for jumping through skylights, running through fire, kick boxing the bad guy who swings his fire axe around while squealing like a school girl. And saving hot women. But then not go to bed with them? Dude, please. You save a gals’ life, that earns you some serious cred. But no. Not this guy. There’s no action for him but real action. So efficient action requires efficient duds. I’ve done a little research for you because I know you’re curious exactly what jeans Bond wears. What’s ridiculous is that most of the online chatter about Bond’s jeans revolves around the cream coloured Levi’s that he wears early in the goings. Yeah, but I’m not interested in the cream coloured Levi’s, dammit. Why is everyone talking about cream coloured jeans? Jesus. Where the hell are you going to get away with wearing cream coloured jeans? In November? Besides LA. Why do people care about these? What’s with all the excitement and chatter? But far less coverage and interest on the blue jeans. Blue. As in the colour that jeans are. Not cream. But I persistently hunted around and found them: he’s wearing 7 For All Mankind “in Mercer”.