Set in the curious world of industrial spying - have a listening device and go and listen - Natali's often self-congratulatory film is so downbeat that you know he's going for that overly serious look of a story which takes itself far too seriously.

Here's a cheapjack attempt to make a romance in the fashion of The French Lieutenant's Woman - a sort of story within a story.

It's becoming a national sport, trying to figure out who will be the next 007 if and when Pierce Brosnan moves on.