As all of you all know, director Quintin Tarentino is a rabid Modesty Blaise fan (not of the 1966 movie, but of the graphic novels written by it's creator Peter McDonald), since he had John Travolta carry a Modesty Blaise book in PULP FICTION(1994) and Mr. Tarentino has always stated that he would like to either direct or produce a Modesty Blaise film that would be a 100 times better than the 1966 film version directed by Joseph Losey starring Monica Vitti, Dirk Bogarde & Terence Stamp. Well, MY NAME IS MODESTY: A MODESTY BLAISE ADVENTURE(2003) is the closest thing Tarentino has done to keep his promise and the result is slightly better than the 1966 version in which it is more coherent, not campy or comicbookish and a bit faithful to Mc Donald's portrayal of Modesty's origins, but this film does have some major flaws that keep it from being enjoyable and an real improvement over the other screen versions of Modesty.
This film stars Alexandra Staden as a very young Modesty and was directed by Scott Spiegel, an associate of both Tarentino & Sam Raimi and who has directed FROM DUSK TO DAWN II:TEXAS BLOOD MONEY and was scripted by Lee and Janet Scott Batchler who also wrote BATMAN FOREVER and it has a all European cast and crew( none of them familiar names) and was totally shot in Budapest, Romania. The film is supposed to be a sort of prequal that covers Modesty's origins before she teamed up with Willie Garvin and became the international master thief, adventuress and superspy. But it is all presented in a bland fashion despite the film's short 75 minutes running time and the way the film is scripted, it could have been about anygirl called Modesty, except the real Modesty Blaise
For anyone that has read Ms. Blaise's adventures, we all know that she was an orphan that was adopted by a rich Arab Sheik( as his adopted son no less!) where she learned her tricks of her trade and then teams up with Willie Garvin. But in this film, after Modesty is orphaned in a wartime flashback, she is adopted by a Romanian casino owner and gangster who adopts her and makes her the main bodyguard and madam/hostess of his casino. When a rival gangster tries to violently overtake the casino and kills the casino owner, then Modesty belatedly gets into action and not so convincingly in the film's final act. The film obviously looks rushed with very little action or wordplay that we are accostumed in other Tarentino produced films. Tarentino's only association or involvement in this film is in the opening title, "Quintin Tarentino & Miramax Films Presents" which shows that both Tarentino & Miramax boss Harvey Weintein had very little involvement in this film. As for the acting, Ms. Staden is the typical Euro model with cute poses and very little or no acting ability. A better choice for the role of Modesty could have been any of the following actresses: Kate Beckinsale, Rose Mc Gowan, Selma Blair or even Angelina Jolie( who personally I think would make a better Modesty Blaise than her interpretation of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider)
It's also obvious that Miramax was not proud of either this film or this DVD video release by releasing this in France on DVD without any fanfare. This DVD released by Miramax International thru TFI Video in a Region 2 PAL DVD release with no trailers, an interactive menu and a DVD /ROM containing Modesty Blaise information and Miramax releases. If you are interested in this DVD, go to Amazon France or www.alapage.com.