Jim Holdaway's cartoon strip about the beautiful, enigmatic Modesty Blaise--orphaned survivor of wars and sundry hardships, educated and groomed by two father figures for the modern world--was adapted before as a 1966 theatrical feature (with Monica Vitti) and also as a 1982 television series. Served up here under the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" aegis, My Name Is Modesty is an enjoyable, no-nonsense take on Modesty's beginnings, starring Alexandra Staden (Vanity Fair) as the cool, supremely poised heroine, manager of a Tangiers casino that also fronts (much to her dismay) gun-running and drug operations. When the casino is taken over by armed men intent on breaking into its vaults, Modesty must stand up to a tough strongman (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who trades hostages for details about her shrouded past. Actor-director Scott Spiegel makes a lean, exotic genre adventure of the material, and Staden is quite likeable as the Bond-ian character. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by writers Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler; the other by director Scott Spiegel and producer Ted Nicolaou), interviews with creative consultant Peter O'Donnell (52 min.), and Spiegel and presenter Quentin Tarantino (42 min.), a 13-minute “Creating the Ultimate Heroine” making-of featurette, “A Retrospective of Modesty Blaise Comics and Artwork” still and text gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a very extensive extras package--especially for a single disc--on this solid B-movie.] (T. Keogh)
My Name Is Modesty
Miramax, 77 min., R, DVD: $29.99 Volume 19, Issue 6
My Name Is Modesty
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