The more you think about it; the more you appreciate its subtle charms.
The Tailor of Panama (2001)
Tomatometer
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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 The mundane tragedy of espionage familiar to le Carre's Cold Warriors has been replaced by farce with the collapse of the Soviet Union.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
Reviews for The Tailor of Panama
" ... veers uneasily between drama and farce, not really succeeding at either."
An adult film in the classic sense of the phrase -- no sophomoric comedy allowed, and a dry Brit wit is manifested throughout.
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.
It is in the details that le Carré and Boorman weave this darkly funny story.
[Boorman] manages to strike exactly the right tone, which is somewhere between irony and amused incredulity.
The film has been directed with a shrewd balance of wit, tension, parody and empathy.
Worthwhile if just for Brosnan, who's having so much fun in his new smarmy skin that you can't help but get caught up in it.
Explores the slippery nature of loyalty in an increasingly ambiguous moral climate.
More cerebral than visceral, and it falls uneasily between the suspense and comedy genres.
Its tongue is planted too far in its cheek and it can't decide whether it wants to be serious or silly.
When the revolution turns real, the film finally collapses under the burden of implausibility.
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