'Heir' apparently a 007 rip-off in financial disguise
"Heir Apparent: Largo Winch" is a double-O joke, a guilty pleasure of an epic adventure that winks so often at its audience that its eyelids start to twitch.
It summons up the naughty essence of those sleazy, globe-trotting international tales of lust and power set against the epic backdrops of warfare - real and corporate - from more than 30 years ago.
Lewis Gilbert's "The Adventurers" (1969) and "Sidney Sheldon's The Other Side of Midnight" (1977) come to mind.
Then, "Heir Apparent" adds its secret weapon: a main character clearly modeled after Ian Fleming's hero James Bond.
Only, instead of growing up to become an agent on Her Majesty's Secret Service, this guy, Largo Winch, becomes a secret adopted heir to a billionaire's fortune.
Jerome Salle's "Heir Apparent" begins with an homage to 007's fourth movie, "Thunderball." Wealthy industrialist Nerio Winch (Miki Manojlovic) takes a stroll on his yacht one night when he sees something in the water.
An aquanaut suddenly rises up, grabs Nerio and pulls him under the water to his death.
News of the influential industrialist's "accident" hammers the stock market worse than when the congressional supercommittee gave up on solving the debt crisis.
The board of directors at Winch's conglomerate - led by reliable and unflappable executive Ann Ferguson (Kristin Scott Thomas) - acts quickly to establish a successor to Nerio Winch.
But the clever Winch, knowing this day would eventually come, has a secret: an adoptive son named Largo who inherits the controlling interest of the company.
In flashbacks, we see how Nerio Winch picked a baby out of a Bosnian orphanage, named him Largo (after 007's villain in "Thunderball"?) and educated him in finance and the arts before the lad rebelled and took off to become an international man of mystery.
Largo (played with catlike physicality by Tomer Sisley) also inexplicably picks up the skills of Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme as he takes on thugs, cops and soldiers who get in his way.
A hot call girl named Lea (Melanie Thierry) also gets in his way, and we can never be sure where her loyalties lie.
"Heir Apparent" comes equipped with exotic locations, expensive cars, boats, houses and sexy babes, in other words, all hallmarks of vintage Bond films.
Largo even takes on a sniper in a helicopter in a chase scene right out of 007's "From Russia With Love."
What? You want further proof "Heir Apparent" is a 007 rip-off?
How about the tough, climactic rooftop battle to the death recalling classic Bond battles from the 1960s? How about instead of Bond's Miss Moneypenny, Largo has a Ms. Pennywinkle?
If you remember my rule - the "secret" killer or conspiracy leader always turns out to be a big-name performer stuck in a seemingly insignicant supporting role - you can guess who's really pulling the strings to topple Largo's empire. (For the record, I wrote down the name of the mystery conspirator 17 minutes into the movie.)
So, there's nothing edgy or inventive about "Heir Apparent." It's all too familiar and transparent for its own good.
Still, there's some guilty fun to be had in watching James Bond as an international industrialist's heir.
Sisley actually makes a tougher, sexier 007 than Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby.
The filmmakers must agree. Sisley will return in a sequel to "Heir Apparent," already announced.
“Heir Apparent: Largo Winch”
★ ★ ½
Starring: Tomer Gazit Sisley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Miki Manojlovic
Directed by: Jerome Salle
Other: A Music Box Films release. At the Music Box Theatre, Chicago. Unrated. 109 minutes