''My Name Is Modesty'' is a 2004 American action film directed by Scott Spiegel.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

executive produced. It was released direct-to-DVD. The film is based on the early years of the character Modesty Blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent. This is the third production that brings

Peter O'Donnell Peter O'Donnell (11 April 1920 – 3 May 2010) was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of ''Modesty Blaise'', an action heroine/undercover trouble-shooter. He was also an award-winning gothic hi ...

's character Modesty Blaise to the screen, following the feature film '' Modesty Blaise'' with Monica Vitti in 1966 and the TV pilot '' Modesty Blaise'' with

Ann Turkel Ann Kathryn Turkel (born July 16, 1946) is an American actress and former model. Turkel studied acting at the Musical Theatre Academy. Life and career Turkel was born in New York City to a Jewish family. She was photographed for American ''Vog ...

in 1982. The film stars British actress Alexandra Staden as Modesty and chronicles a crucial event in the character's life sometime before the start of the comic strip. As such, it omits the key character of Willie Garvin, Modesty's companion throughout the run of the original comic strip and the 30-year series of spin-off novels and short stories published by O'Donnell.

Plot

Modesty Blaise is working as a croupier in a casino in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

. A group of violent criminals assassinate her employer and enter the casino shooting staff and demanding entry to the casino's safe. Modesty delays her retaliation and retribution as she protects the lives of her staff. When the criminals kill the only person who can open the safe, Modesty arranges for a fellow employee to arrive who has the password for the computer that holds the details of the entry to the vault. As the criminals and their captives await the individual, Modesty takes on the leader of the criminals at the game of

roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

. They agree that if she wins twice in a row a captive sworn to not tell what happened is released; when she loses she has to tell the truth about her background to the leader of the criminals who has become fascinated by her. She relates her life story little by little in the manner of

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' deri ...

. Modesty tells her life story in flashback beginning as an orphaned child in a refugee camp in the Balkans, to her meeting her mentor who teaches her his knowledge of various languages and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

until he died in Algeria where she makes her way to Tangier and becoming a croupier. The criminals eventually enter the safe but are confronted with a revenging Modesty. The time setting of the film is kept vague. Although flashback sequences involving warfare invoke

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

or other conflicts in the late 1940s and early 1950s (in keeping with the original comic strip), Modesty as an adult is shown using computers and other current (for 2004) technology.

Cast

* Alexandra Staden as Modesty Blaise *

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (; born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor and producer. He graduated from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Copenhagen in 1993, and had his breakthrough role in Denmark with the film '' Nightwatch'' (19 ...

as Miklos *

Raymond Cruz Raymond Cruz (born July 9, 1961) is an American actor, best known for his starring role as Detective Julio Sanchez in the series ''The Closer'' and its spinoff '' Major Crimes'', as well as his recurring role as drug lord Tuco Salamanca in th ...

as Raphael Garcia * Fred Pearson as Professor Lob *

Eugenia Yuan Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former rhythmic gymnast who has won a Hong Kong Film Award. Early life On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei-pei, an actress who ...

as Irina * Valentin Teodosiu as Henri Louche * Bianca Ana Tudorica as Young Modesty Blaise

Production

After director Scott Spiegel filmed ''

From Dusk till Dawn 2 ''From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money'' is an American Western horror film released on March 16, 1999. It is the second film in the ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' series and is a sequel to ''From Dusk till Dawn''. The film was an early test releas ...

'' in 1999, producer Harvey Weinstein asked Spiegel to direct ''My Name Is Modesty''.

joined the filming as an executive producer. The filming took place in Bucharest, Romania and lasted 18 days. The film was produced '' pro forma'' for

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey Weinstein, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was ...

to maintain rights to the source material, the '' Modesty Blaise'' comic strip. Peter O'Donnell acted as a consultant to the film with an updated sequence in the story mirroring how O'Donnell first met the girl who inspired him.

Release

''My Name Is Modesty'' was released straight to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Reception

Juan Morales of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the film one of the "vivid examples of Mr. Spiegel's sly, visual directing style". Joe Leydon of '' Variety'' opined that the film "isn't half-bad" and is a "mildly diverting time-killer". He went on to note, "Scripters Lee and Janet Scott Batchler concoct a scenario that often plays like the pilot for a syndicated tele series. Budgetary and scheduling restraints require vet vidpic director Scott Spiegel... to keep most of the action within the casino set. Still, Spiegel sustains a reasonable level of tension while Modesty stalls for time. Climactic smackdown is suitably brisk, if predictable. Handsome lensing by Vivi Dragan Vasile is a plus."

References

External links

* * {{Scott Spiegel 2004 films 2004 action thriller films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films American action thriller films American films about gambling Films about roulette Films based on works by Peter O'Donnell Films based on British comics Films based on comic strips Films directed by Scott Spiegel Films scored by Deborah Lurie Films set in Tangier Live-action films based on comics Modesty Blaise