| The Tailor of Panama |
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| 1/2 |
| Rating: Mixed Distributor: Columbia Pictures Running Length: 1 hour, 49 minutes Release Date: March 30th, 2001 (limited), to April 20th 2001 (wider). MPAA Rating: R Genre: Dark Comedy Director: John Boorman Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis, Leonor Varela, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack, and Harold Pinter. |
| Plot: Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) is an amoral British spy who has misbehaved and been sent to do a job in Panama as a punishment. He needs to start a relationship (although he doesn't seem to mind if it isn't positive) with a tailor, Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush) who has connections all over the city. He uses the tailor by blackmailing him for his past. Andy tries to get involved with the tailor's friends and tries to use his wife, Louisa for her connections. He needs to spy on the Panama Canal to see if the natives are operating it correctly. Meanwhile, he starts a relationship with a spy who is working on the Panama project with him. However, as the situation progresses Andy alienates everyone around him. |
| Critique: The Tailor of Panama tries to be a comedy and a noir film. This is a difficult task to pull off, and the film is never effective in furfilling its ambitions. It references Michael Curtiz's 1942 classic, and thus attempts to be amiable and smart. It also has a feverish climax than reminded me a lot of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train finale. It has some strong acting, by Brosnan and Rush, as well as some boozy direction. I was very interested by the interactions between the characters, but the background plot was silly and inconsequential. The film sports flashy cinemtography, and a nice score. These aspects of the film help it to seem more polished, and in some segments it is. However, it often gets convoluted and weird. It is sometimes hard to follow, and not because of a complicated plot. The problem is we are often not given all the pieces that we need. That gives the film an illusion of being intelligent. It is witty, but it isn't really intelligent. Furthermore, like the main character The Tailor of Panama is distasteful and rude. At first, we are captivated by the thick darkness, but also attractive qualities of the film, before it meanders into crude confusion. The film's strongest suite is its fantastic dialogue. The banter between Brosnan and Rush is often funny, and also whimsical. However, even though the film's beginning is bright, the ending is clumsy and weird. It does not close things correctly, and is not smooth. 'Panama' aspires to be inspiring, but with such a mix of good and bad elements it does not float. For the most part the pic is well made, and the characters worth watching. Still, the spy aspects are unsure and weak, as is the ending. The film suffers from lack of conviction. review by supernothingman |