Rich but uneven.
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.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexuality, language and some violence
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Mar 30, 2001 Wide
Box Office: $13,123,070
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 The mundane tragedy of espionage familiar to le Carre's Cold Warriors has been replaced by farce with the collapse of the Soviet Union.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
I had forgotten that thrillers could possibly be this much fun and rippingly intelligent at the same time.
This plot-centered motion picture demands that its audience thinks rather than sits passively and watches.
To enjoy this movie fully, it's best not to read le Carré's masterful novel.
If it works -- and this viewer thinks it works quite well -- most of the credit goes to Rush's performance.
A clever, consistently engaging thriller with complex characters who struggle with various alterations of the truth.
A broad, ribald circus flagrantly in love with the English language, The Tailor bustles with swaggering, jubilant showmanship.
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.
One big double entendre that's too jokey for its own good yet nevertheless is at times very amusing.
Many spy capers lose their intended irony and wry black humor, but The Tailor of Panama stays stylishly on target in ways that would put a heat-seeking missile to shame.
The Tailor of Panama teeters from drama to farce to thriller to delicious black comedy, and delivers on all fronts.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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