Audience Rated by buyers R (Restricted)
Type of bind: Video On Demand
Release Date: October 14, 2008
Running Time: 110 minutes
Sale Popularity Level: 4931
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: March 30, 2001
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The best way to describe this movie is James Bond gone bad...I absolutely love this movie. Probably one of the most underrated movies in the last 10 years. Put together an all-star cast with a twisting story line and the exotic, beautiful, and dangerous backdrop of Panama and you have a great movie. If Saville Row means nothing to you and you aren't intrigued by the seedy world of espionage, look elsewhere for entertainment. If this does spark your interest, sit back and enjoy some of the best lines in cinema ("It was just tight--from lack of use").
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I've watched and enjoyed "The Taylour of Panama" several times now. It seems to represent co-producer John Le Carré's homage to Graham Greene, Ian Fleming, and a spoof on the spy genre-film in general (It even includes a humorous pot-shot at "Casablanca.").
Geoffrey Rush turns in a moving performance as Harry Pendel, the tailor, whose fantasy life makes him all too vulnerable for the enticements and blackmail of the seedy would-be, but never-actually-was, James Bond--Andrew Osnard, a burnt-out MI-Sixer, banished to Panama as punishment for peccadilloes in foreign postings [Pierce Brosnan does an engaging satire on his cinematic Bond aplomb.]. Between the fantasies of Pendel (whose dead but not-so-silent partner is portrayed by Harold Pinter) the situation soon gets out of hand and almost ruins Pendel's marriage (His wife is played by Jamie Lee Curtis.); it destroys his loyal Panamanian friends, and almost starts a war. And while Osnard and most of his colleagues prove to be as corruptible as they are mendacious, the tailour finally comes clean with his wife and mends his marriage.
Behind the satire is one of Le Carré's favorite topics, the willingness of Intelligence services to believe what they want (in this case the presence of a "silent opposition" to the local government), and, in the name of expediency, to spin the most tenuous threads into colorful yarns that they then weave into plausible fabrics and preposterous fabrications. Le Carré therefore seems to be suggesting that the various intelligence services with their vested interests are all accomplished tailors.
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Pierce Brosnan plays a British spy in this film but in a closer-to-reality scenario. No gadgets, no powerful weapons, no Aston Martin's. Okay, he gets to drive a BMW for about 5 minutes, but without the surface-to-air missiles. And fine, he still gets the ladies... Despite the lack of intense action the story is intriguing and clever. Everyone has their own interests in mind and it's amazing and sometimes funny to see what they will say and do to get things to work in their favor. Definitely an entertaining film. The Blu-Ray version is an improvement over the DVD version, but I have seen better quality video in other Blu-Ray releases.
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I'm shocked at how many people disliked this film probably because it requires attention and thought throughout from beginning to end and makes more sense upon second viewing. Intensely layered with a very dry, dark, and often bizarre sense of humor, excellent direction and acting with Pierce Brosnan playing a real scumbag, if you know nothing of political history and backdoor manueverings, this film may make no sense to you, but if you feel comatose being subjected to standard Hollywood crap, you may have fun with this. Put on your thinking cap and enjoy some thick intrigue. And some laughs, if you can "get it."
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Panama is important for its wide-open banking system (money laundering) and as a way station for drug shipments. An agent from MI-6 in London is sent there to do what they do. (Don't ask if you don't have a need to know.) There is a Savile Row tailour who business is shaky; he needs money quickly. [Could higher-ups be squeezing Harry Pendel, the tailor, to turn him into a source of information?] Harry's custom includes the ruling class of Panama. Andrew Osnard pays 5,000$US for a tour of Panama. This includes a man whose tongue is loosened by liquor.
The poor people are fed up with their oppression by their corrupt rulers, but can do nothing but complain. [As in other countries?] Osnard gathers information on the "silent opposition" in Panama. CIA Director George Bush made Noriega the ruler of Panama. President George Bush ended Noriega's reign with an invasion by US military forces. There is a flashback to show how Noriega's police kept law and order. [They don't tell what is going on now.] The information that Pendel provides is startling, the higher-ups want confirmation in writing. [The conspirators must put something in writing.] The film shows the odd locales used for meetings (a hotel, a dance hall). A strange travelogue indeed! When Harry thinks about quitting Andy threatens to expose and ruin his life.
The film shows how this misinformation rises to the top in an American-British conference. [Do you see the satire here?] The plan is to back the opposition to put a new class in power in Panama. The truth seems to be that any excuse will do as a reason to invade Panama and seize the canal. [An echo of Suez?] Would Ronald Reagan approve? There is a car chase like in other spy stories, but this ends in the weeds. Andy Osnard catches a private jet to Switzerland, he is aided by the British Ambassador. Is this the start of a beautiful friendship? There is a happy ending (which contradicts the main part of this story). Does satire do well at the box office?
Films are the condensed and simplified versions of the novel they are taken from. Sometimes the story is changed, for better or worse.
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