By the end of his life, Ian Fleming was the author of a series of books that turned into a pop-culture juggernaut. But as Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond begins, Fleming (Dominic Cooper) was just a disappointment to his family. Kicked out of Eton, fired from every job he'd ever gotten, Fleming was a drunken floozy who'd squandered the advantages given to him by birth as the son of a prominent MP. Why, his mother wonders despairingly, can't Ian be more like his brother Peter (Rupert Evans), a successful author of exotic travel books? Then, a twist of fate transforms Ian's life. The director of naval intelligence recruits him for the department as England is on the eve of joining World War II. The former journalist, banker, and stockbroker has a head for the job and is soon launched on a career of espionage and counterespionage in far-flung locations. Meanwhile, his personal life heats up as he falls in love with, and then marries, Ann O'Neill, a titled woman who shares Fleming's lust for adventure. The two live a heady life, which Fleming later plunders for his series of James Bond books.
