... The fact that Harry is married to Louisa, who is the PA to the President of the Panama Canal, seems to be promising. Harry, initially reluctant to participate, is eventually lulled by much-needed cash. Unfortunately, he is not as well-connected as Andy hopes, and in the end, he makes up a ... Read review
The sly conceit at the heart ofThe Tailor of Panamais that tailors are the secret-keepers ... more
of the power elite: customise fine apparel for the rich and powerful, and you'll hear things only whispered in the halls of government. The film was co-adapted by...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Pierce Brosnan stars as the anti-Bond in maverick director John Boorman's adaptation of ... more
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 ...
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In this seductive spy thriller based on the best-selling novel by John Le Carre, Academy ... more
Award-winner GEOFFREY RUSH (Quills, Shine) delivers a dazzling performance as Harry Pendel, an ex-con turned tailor to the rich and infamous and married to smart a...
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Advantages: Good actors Disadvantages: Weak story, ultimately a dull film
...off to Panama out of the way. Eager to get back into his boss' good books, he wants to provide him with some useful information. Choosing Harry Pendel, a tailor who is well-known in Panama, as his spy, he pays him to get hold of information relevant to the Panama Canal, hoping that some of it will prove useful. The fact that Harry is married to Louisa, who is the PA to the President of the Panama Canal, seems to be promising. Harry, initially reluctant ... ...as Andy hopes, and in the end, he makes up a story of revolution that Andy can report back to London. Will Harry admit that his story is a lie before the big guns come in? And how will it affect his hitherto peaceful life in Panama?
Director John Boorman probably thought he had this film in the bag before he started filming. With a story written by John Le Carre, and names like Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis, how ... more
Disgraced British agent Andy Osnard is packed off to Panama out of the way. Eager to get back into his boss' good books, he wants to provide him with some useful information. Choosing Harry Pendel, a tailor who is well-known in Panama, as his spy, he pays him to get hold of information relevant to the Panama Canal, hoping that some of it will prove useful. The fact that Harry is married to Louisa, who is the PA to the President of the Panama Canal, seems to be promising. Harry, initially reluctant to participate, is eventually lulled by much-needed cash. Unfortunately, he is not as well-connected as Andy hopes, and in the end, he makes up a story of revolution that Andy can report back to London. Will Harry admit that his story is a lie before the big guns come in? And how will it affect his hitherto peaceful life in Panama?
Director John Boorman probably thought he had this film in the bag before he started filming. With a story written by John Le Carre, and names like Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis, how could he go wrong? Putting it like that, it is hard to see how the film could flop, yet, it does. I've actually started to watch this film two or three times, but haven't finished it, just because it isn't very involving. This time I actually finished it, but am not all that convinced it was worth my time.
I am very fond of Pierce Brosnan; he is good to look at and makes me smile. I'm not convinced he is a particularly strong actor though. As Andy Osnard, he is very like every other character he has played in other films, such as the James Bond ones, The Thomas Crown Affair and Dante's Peak. He's not bad here, he does a perfectly adequate job and more, it is just that he doesn't show any originality and it is hard to tell whether he's actually acting or not. He does get to show a nasty side at times, which spices the role up a little, but it's still not really enough to make a great impact, at least not on me.
Geoffrey Rush probably gives the better performance of the two as Harry Pendel. Harry is basically a good man with a rather chequered past that he has chosen not to share with his wife. His debts, also hidden from his wife, are what persuades him to go along with Andy's plan. Once he realises what he has got himself into, it is too late. Rush is a great 'character' actor, and I think he picks up on Harry's emotions very well - there are a couple of occasions where he has to show terror, for example, and this he does with knobs on. Harry is the sort of quirky person that I would quite like to get to know, so kudos to Rush for that.
I'm not entirely sure why Jamie Lee Curtis took on the the role as Louisa Pendel, just because it isn't much of a role for an experienced actress like her to get her teeth into. Louisa is very much a secondary character, and one that any actress with a modicum of talent could have played. That aside, she is perfectly convincing in the role - I just would have preferred that she had more to play with. Another secondary character is Mickie, played by Brendan Gleeson - I thought he did a great job of acting drunk, loud and generally unhappy with the state of politics in Panama. A couple of other actors caught my eye just because I recognised them. We have David Hayman from Trial and Retribution as Osnard's daft boss - Hayman is ideal to play the role of someone in charge, but he slightly overdid it here and just looked silly. Then there is a very young-looking Daniel Radcliffe as Harry's son. He doesn't have much of a role, but it is interesting to see what he was up to before Harry Potter - although only just because this film was released in 2001, the same as the first Harry Potter film.
I think the main problem with this film is the story. Based on the book by John Le Carre, I would have expected it to be a good one. However, either it hasn't been translated over to the screen very well, or it is just a weak story that hasn't been brought out of its shell by the film. I think it speaks volumes that I have seen the film a few times before finally being able to watch it all the way through (and believe me, I've managed to sat through many rubbish films in my time) - the story has nothing in it that really gripped me. And whereas the idea of an ordinary person like a tailor becoming a spy for the British government ought to be a good one, it just seems a bit daft. I know from living abroad myself that some foreigners can have an elevated position in their chosen country, but it still seemed too ludicrous and simplistic to be convincing.
There isn't much to criticise about the cinematography, just because it is like the story, a little dull and uninteresting. And yet it could have been so much better. Set in Panama, we do get the odd glimpse of local colour - for example, there is one scene where Andy passes local housing and we get to see what is going on in each doorway and another where some kind of festival is going on - but there isn't enough for my liking. Instead, too much time is spent on watching Andy and his woman of choice in different love scenes - yawn. There is nothing too graphic about the love scenes though, in case anyone is concerned.
There isn't much in the way of special features on my disc - just a trailer of the film and another one of Les Miserables for some reason. However, my disc was bought overseas. The edition currently available on play.com includes an interview with Brosnan and Rush, an audio commentary by the director and a couple of other extras. Personally, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the special features anyway.
I really wanted to like this film; certainly on paper, it sounds great. However, it just doesn't really work on screen and I have been hard-pushed on more than one occasion to actually get through the film at all. If you're a big Le Carre fan, or you really like any of the main actors, then it's perhaps worth a watch, but personally I wouldn't pay good money to watch it - no doubt it will be shown on TV at some point. Not recommended.
Advantages: Some good acting Disadvantages: Weak, Brosnan trying to hard not to be Bond
...quite like.
Pierce plays the role of Andrew Osnard who works for MI6 and gets sent to Panama to check on the safety of the canal. When he arrives he decides that he is going to need a spy working for him so he can get the inside information which he needs. He discovers a tailor, Harry, played by Gregory Rush, who works for all the important people in panama. Andy gets background information of Harry so he has no choice to spy for him. Harry is a ... ...be able to stick to the truth when giving Andy his information or will he stick to his story telling and what will the consequences of this be?
Ok, the film was watch able but I think that I was expecting more from it. Pierce played the role of a MI6 agent and spy but I think he was trying just too hard to getaway from his Bond character which made his role seem very unbelievable and false. He was a sex mad lazy man and I really did not like this ...
sewbizzie 17.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Tailor Of Panama (DVD)
Advantages: good cast, good idea, and Jamie Lee's boobs Disadvantages: slow paced and there is no emotional ties to the characters
The Tailor of Panama boasts a superb cast including Pierce Brosnan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush. Add to that acclaimed Director John Boorman at the helm and the writing skills of John le Carre, BUT This film left me COLD.
Current – and arguably the best – 007, Brosnan pulls on the spy mantle once more. But this time it is of disgraced MI 6 agent Andy Osnard who has been exiled to the diplomatic corps of Panama. Desperate ... ...Osnard looks to sniff out the big deal that will get him back into ‘circulation’. He enlists the services of ex-Saville Row tailor Harry Pender (Rush). Harry is a tailor to the stars – well, the government officials, wheelers and dealers, movers and shakers. Osnard is hoping that Harry can be persuaded to get the low down on the corruption going on and with Harry in need of money – big time – he goes along with it. But ...
flashpointz 07.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Tailor Of Panama (DVD)
Advantages: Some good humour, entertaining Disadvantages: Sometimes a bit uneven plot wise
...year ago. It’s no doing the rounds on Sky movies so I decided to give it a look. The cast was good with Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis, also director John Boorman has made some decent films in the past.
Andrew Osnard (Brosnan) is a British spy who lets his chauvinistic attitude get in the way of his career. An affair with the wife of an ambassador ends up with a last chance assignment in Panama. The mission is to learn what the ... ...of great interest to both the British and the Americans. Osnard makes connection with a local tailor Harry Pendel (Rush) who has a shady past but also supplies suits to all the leading political leaders and gangsters. Pendel is in need of money to clear debts and trades secrets with Osnard for cash. This involves going behind his wife’s (Curtis) back and stealing documents from her work. When Pendel struggles to find anything he becomes desperate ...
utero 12.01.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Tailor Of Panama (DVD)
Advantages: Funny, based on a good story Disadvantages: The ghost
...this film not having read the book, which I am reliably informed is an advantage! I was surprised by the beginning of the film and was worried that the next hour and an hour or so were going to be exceedingly dull. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Brosnan is his usual smooth self, though is particularly odious in this film and has some fantastically wicked lines that I can't really mention here! The obvious love interest is his co-worker and ... ...who work very well together. The major failing of this is appearance of Geoffery's character's dead uncle. This is quite frankly just naff and the film would be far better off without it. That said, the film is certainly enjoyable, with some good references to the spy-genre and some cheap gags for the rest of us! ...
fam6 15.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Tailor Of Panama (DVD)
Advantages: Pierce Brosnan is in it Disadvantages: Apparently there is no enough space available here to comment fully
As much as I love the consistently strong performances of PIerce Brosnan, I HATED this film. I couldn't even bear to watch it in its entirety. The use of bad language is excessive and in my opinion totally unnecessary. We all drop the swears now and again but my friends and I were left feeling uncomfortable! Strongly recommendation borrowing this from a friend if you are desperate to watch (not worth buying or renting as it would be a waste of money!) ...
marcberryman 18.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Tailor Of Panama (DVD)
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Advantages: Powerful, intense, well acted and well filmed. Disadvantages: None really, abit slow a times.
have an input.
John Boorman (The General, Excalibur, Tailor of Panama,) brilliantly directed the film, with much passion and carefulness, making each moment count.
He also produced the movie.
Background to DVD
The DVD I purchased, I am almost certain is the same as the one Ciao is selling. This is because, Deliverance was first published on DVD in 2000, and so far Deliverance has never had a special edition and is always packaged in the same cardboard case, having all the same contents.
It has the usual interactive menu and scene access, and it does have the selection of alternate languages, French and Italian.
It has the selection of ten subtitle languages too. However this is about it.
Although not great on special features, the DVD does have excellent picture quality, Dolby Digital sound (can be surround ...
The Perfect Fit A Conversation With Pierce Brosnan And Geoffrey Rush Featurette, Alternate Ending, Directors Commentary, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
2.35 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
Based on the novel by John LeCarre, this is the story of British spy, Andrew Osnard, who is banished to Panama. Whilst their he meets up with Harry Pendel, a local Tailor, who has connections to all the top politicians in Panama. Osnard persuades Pendel to keep an eye on the comings and going in the politicial world...
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