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Movies / On DVD / The Tailor of Panama
The Tailor of Panama

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The Tailor of Panama (2001)

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Reviews Counted:111

Fresh:86

Rotten:25

Average Rating:6.8/10

Consensus: A smart and satrical thriller with an engaging cast.

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Pierce Brosnan stars as the anti-Bond in maverick director John Boorman's adaptation of legendary spy novelist John le Carre's seamy tour of post-Noriega Panama. A British intelligence agent whose... Pierce Brosnan stars as the anti-Bond in maverick director John Boorman's adaptation of legendary spy novelist John le Carre's seamy tour of post-Noriega Panama. A British intelligence agent whose taste for gambling and other men's wives has put him on the wrong side of his bosses at MI6, Andy Osnard (Brosnan) is posted to the backwater of Panama to atone for his sins. To that end, he recruits upscale tailor Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), leveraging the man's financial problems and questionable past to gain access to information about the activities of his elite clientele. Meanwhile, Osnard remains true to form, recruiting the personal services of lovely embassy official Francesca (Catherine McCormack), and attempting the same with Harry's wife, Louisa (Jamie Lee Curtis). When Harry's best friend Micki (Brendan Gleeson), a former member of the anti-Noriega underground, now a broken man, begins blustering about politics in front of Osnard, both of these con men begin to see him as the solution to their problems. The mundane tragedy of espionage familiar to le Carre's Cold Warriors has been replaced by farce with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Boorman creates an atmosphere redolent with U.S.-abetted corruption in this well written and acted film, which also features playwright Harold Pinter in a cameo role. [More]

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Gleeson

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Gleeson, David Hayman, Catherine McCormack, Harold Pinter, Leonor Valera, Dylan Baker, Daniel Radcliffe

Director: John Boorman

Director: John Boorman
Screenwriter: Andrew Davies, John Boorman
Studio: Columbia Pictures

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Reviews for The Tailor of Panama

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/16/02
Jason Solomons
Jason Solomons
Daily Mail [UK]

The film, for all its earnestness, snaky comedy, and would-be intelligence, never manages any real fizz.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/20/01
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A never-thrilling, occasionally amusing picture which wheezes badly, like a pig which has been shot but refuses to die.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/16/01
Michael Thomson
Michael Thomson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/30/02
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

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Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix
N/R

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Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
03/29/01
Ebert & Roeper
N/R

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Full Review Source: Hot Button | comment Comment
01/07/03
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button
N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/20/01
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

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Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
02/21/03
Hollywood.com

A sometimes-plodding, rarely inspiring or revealing and often confused spy drama that can't decide whether it wants to be quirky, smart, sexy, tense or all of the above.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
04/23/01
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

The Tailor of Panama is no more unlikely a tale than your typical Bond movie -- it's just a lot less fun.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/26/01
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

I might have enjoyed The Tailor of Panama a bit more if it did not echo a much sharper and more amusing romp in the cane field of Latin American intrigue, Our Man in Havana.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
03/30/01
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Refashioned only imperfectly from the book, it ends up neither fish nor fowl, an amalgam of drama, satire and farce which never comes together into a satisfying whole.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
03/26/01
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

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Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
10/26/01
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

A big disappointment.

comment Comment
03/30/01
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Brosnan makes Osnard into one of the spy genre's great cynical manipulators, Bond on a bender. It's too bad the rest of the film can't quite live down to his character.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
03/30/01
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
04/02/01
Greg Muskewitz
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com

What's most unnerving about The Tailor of Panama is the film's overall tone, which wavers uncomfortably between modest thrills and modest farce.

comment Comment
03/29/01
Gregory Weinkauf
Gregory Weinkauf
New Times
 
 
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