Dame Judi Dench – The World Is Not Enough
By now we all know Dame Judi is an acting treasure, and you can hardly blame her for taking the Bond paycheck. Before the Daniel Craig reboots, Dench was stuck in some of the stupider entries at the end of Pierce Brosnan’s reign. This one rather famously features Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones…’nuff said.
For a much better time, Dame Judi plays a wonderfully melancholy Mistress Quickly in the Falstaff sections of Kenneth Branagh’s debut film, “Henry V.” In keeping with the film’s focus on “War as muddy, dirty and ugly,” the comedy scenes are played for gallows humor and with a healthy dollop of sadness. Dench is more than capable at the task.
