In Casino Royale, Bond and Vesper’s coy back-and-forth during their first meeting in the car starts as pleasant conversation before gradually drifting into outright flirting, only to hit a wonderfully awkward dead end with this exchange. Vesper’s “Smart?” seems to invite clarification, but Bond’s response, “No, single,” raises an amusing question about exactly what he means.

Why would a single woman not be his type, unless Bond has developed a particular fondness for women who are already spoken for? Is he simply toying with Vesper, enjoying the opportunity to needle her while maintaining his usual confidence? The delivery makes the exchange even more interesting, as Bond sighs almost wistfully while looking out the window, as though the subject has suddenly brought an unpleasant memory to mind.

Could he be subtly reminiscing about a previous fling, or am I reading far too much into a two-word punchline? Either way, it’s a wonderfully sly bit of dialogue that leaves just enough ambiguity to make me wonder what Bond is getting at here…