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The Tailor of Panama

The Tailor of Panama

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $13.45
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Classy, and well acted. But not for action lovers.
Review: Those who have read the book, will probably appreciate this movie's quiet intelligence and taste. The acting, photography, and clever dialogue are standout. At the heart of the plot are several flawed but interesting characters, each with something to hide, each trying to achieve or hold onto something. Interpreted by Pierce Brosnan with impressive gusto and flair, Andy Osnard's character is a post-modern deconstruction of the British spy: a reckless seducer, sort of Rob Lowe meets James Bond, cynical and amoral and selfish. With extroverted intelligence and sly, macho humor, Brosnan proves beyond a doubt that he can both embrace and surpass the Bond role stereotype.
As for the amazing actor Geoffrey Rush, he once again reinvents himself. In the title role, he's utterly convincing as Pendel, a warm-hearted but overly servile tailor to the wealthy and corrupt ruling class of Panama. Rush's acting is superb, down to the typical gestures and deferential patter of the male sartorial trade.
Jaime Lee Curtis is also well cast as Pendel's oh-so-American wife, an assertive modern woman who clings determinedly to her professional and family roles, in an attempt to stave off the awkwardness and repressed sexuality that come with being an ugly duckling.
All in all, a classy and well acted film. Film goers who are expecting action and danger, however, are advised to look elsewhere. TTOP moves at a slow, deliberate pace, preferring to focus on character development.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I agree with all the 1 star ratings
Review: This movie was a real snoozer with no real plot. Brosnan's character is too cool for school, which was annoying. The only thing going for it was Jamie Lee Curtis .... For an older lady. She's still ... nice ....

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!
Review: I saw this a few weeks ago with a friend, both of us kept looking at our watches to see how much longer before the torture would end, this movie was SLOW SLOW SLOW, with no real plot. It had some great actors in it too bad they were in such a horrible movie!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why still country code ?
Review: I have and I know of many people who have a " no contry code "
player!!!! ( Avaiable through the internet )
So why still contry encoding ? Us DVD fans have long stepped over
this hurdle we get DVD's from all over the world!
Who are we protecting here ?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT FILM; VERY UNDERESTIMATED
Review: Many people who criticize this film do so because of the slow moving plotline. No, this may not be as exciting as a Tom Cruise flick or a James Cameron action fest. Instead ... We get a wonderfully acted film that, while watching it, gives off hints of Casablanca and Alfred Hitchcok, all rolled into one film that is reminiscent of classic Hollywood cinema and begs the questions, "Why is Hollywood such a mess today? What happened?"
Geoffrey Rush, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Lee Curtis all give excellent performances. Rush is especially great in his role, portraying the lovable yet simple local tailor with as much smooth poise as Humphrey Bogart in Casablance. His accent is pitch perfect and the way he does everything is the sign of a great actor. While Curtis' performance was no surprise, I thought Brosnans was. While his James Bond films were good, he didn't really act very much in them (He seemed to be more of an "Action hero." Kinda like a very young Sean Connery as James Bond:)). However, He does a great job in TAILOR OF PANAMA. Swave and devenare, yet his lengthy scenes conversing with Rush can bring up images of Michael Douglas reading a monologue. Crisp, clear, dramatic, tension in some areas, and yet calmness in his delivery. These are signs of some great acting.
In Casablanca, you have Rick's nightclub. Hey ... You have virtually the same thing in TAILOR OF PANAMA (Only without a pianist). It serves as the focal point of the film, setting the audience up for a classic old time thriller. Taking audiences back to the times of Hitchcok. Times when Hollywood thrillers were real. No pro-longed scenes of blood letting or gory chainsaw massacres. Just classic thrillers with enough suspicion and "Is he... ?" questions to keep the audience engaged. Sure, there may be slow scenes. But even Hitchcok films were sometimes a little slow. It is the thought provoking and surprising elements, though, that made his films such endearing classics. And What makes TAILOR OF PANAMA such a rare and delightful treat.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: We need a plot clean-up in aisle 6 for Tailor of Panama...
Review: "Thumbs Down!"

I thought I could tell where this film was heading, towards the goal of "EXCELLENT", but the plot is too vague. Geoffery Rush, Pierce Brosnan and Jamie Lee Curtis, actually aren't too shabby in this film- it's just the plot that made me sick! It is so boring I couldn't stand it! I don't even wanna talk about the plot! It was horrid! John Boorman could be nominated for Worst Director this year for the Bad-cademy Awards! Spice up the plot with some adventure or twists, then you've got a movie, but this rich-actored bore is just too stupid for me!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Panama is how it's depicted here.
Review: I've been living here in Panama for 16 years, and it is how they depict it in this movie, I don't know where the other panamainian reviewers live, but yes, Panama if filled with beggars on every corner, dirty politicians, greedy people rule the country and do whatever they want here. The movie is garbage the story and direction is terrible, the only good thing is the acting. The actors truly did their very best but when you have a bad script, you have a doomed production. Don't waste you time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A boring film with not much going for it.
Review: This film is in total shambles long before the end, and it seems like Pierce Brosnan is trying to kill his suave James Bond portrayal as well as his entire carrer playing a chrachter with no depth or any charm. And that Geoffrey Rush sounds more & more like an escaped mental pateint than a tailor with an overacted imangination. This film barely held my attention with it's weak plot endless back & forth to a comedy to drama to a pathetic car chase sequence towards the end of the film by then i was rushing towards the exit kicking myself for wasting money on this shamless means of entertaiment value. Jamie Lee Curtis has really hit an all time low here give this lady a role she desrves "BLUE STEEL & A FISH CALLED CALLED WANDA" were excellent roles for a an actress of her quality for the last couple of years she has done irepable damage to her carrer this film being no exceeption. Not a worthwhile effort from everyone invovled. I can't beleive famed director John Boorman who has done masterful classics such as "POINT BLANK" & "DELIVERANCE" Would stoop so low in making this disgrace to his legacy of extrodinary filmaking.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superior film; it's not meant to be a regular fast actioner
Review: Composure is key to Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan), an unscrupulous spy who realizes that the best gadgets an agent undercover uses are his cunning, his intellect, his grandeur, and his libido. All of these qualities must mold into a singular force, and the genuine spy never allows the weight of these qualities or his difficulties to come through physically, for without composure, what is a spy to be?

"The Tailor of Panama," a comeback film for "Deliverance" mastermind John Boorman, answers this question as it pits the ruthless Osnard, who can always keep his cool, with Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), who cannot balance the many out-of-order elements of his life with the same crispness.

Both of these characters - richly textured, ingeniously conceived, totally idiosyncratic - play a game of wits that headlines a deftly rendered Hollywood thriller that ranks as one of the finest spy thrillers in years.

Attribute the film's considerable success not only to its sterling direction by Boorman, but in the picture's graceful ability to derive its story solely from its characters. "Tailor" is bereft of the boundless cliches and storytelling conventions that ultimately dictate the narrative arcs of nearly all major action pictures. It instead weaves its web and inflicts intrigue, tragedy, betrayal and sex upon its characters without ever feeling as if the writers are plunging through the Hollywood gamut.

There's hardly a chase scene in this effort, yet there's rarely a dull moment, either.

Credit must be paid to all of the performers, who inhabit their roles rather than occupying. Brosnan does a melicious variation on his James Bond persona, a risky idea that works brilliantly. Rush continues to be a superb character actor, and makes Harry into the film's heart and center, always exuding multiple dimensions and providing rich emotional facets that grace the picture with an uncommon complexity. Curtis is quite good, in a low-key manner, as Harry's intelligent and loving wife, and Brendan Gleason is outstanding as Harry's alcoholic best friend.

Boorman continues to have a nearly unmatched skill at incorporating locations and settings as to make them entirely central to the storyline, exploiting their natural beauty and local color in a manner that defies traditional "postcard views" that would be at home, say, in James Bond. The screenplay is tireless in its abundance of wit and clever turns for the story to take.

If at times improbable and perhaps too pat upon resolution, "The Tailor of Panama" is still a richly composed, exceptionally realized contemporary thriller, willing to take chances in an uncommonly simplistic era of major studio pictures.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Too Horrible For Words
Review: I am not exaggerating when I write that this movie was unquestionably the worst movie that I have ever seen. I found it unbelievable that it could possibly be so bad with the cast that it contained. I felt somewhat vindicated, however, about twenty minutes into it when people started filing out of the theater. The cinema was filled to capacity at the beginning, and by the end of the film less than half remained. I spoke with the theater manager about it afterwards and he said that he's never witnessed so many people leave early and ask for refunds than with the Tailor of Panama. That is the level of garbage that this movie is.

Where to start... 1) The dialogue was what I would expect from a novice screenwriter. Every line was attempting to be satirical - rarely funny but always trying to be. (...) When you can actually understand what is going on you realize that the events themselves are not believable at all. (The British agents living in Panama have never even *heard* of the "silent opposition"? Right...) 3) This movie is very graphic, lewd, and overall disturbing. If I'm going to watch sick rape/torture scenes then there better be an actual movie worth watching to go along with it. This movie did not "earn" the right to show the sick events it portrays, which are obviously thrown in as gratuitous shock value.

Lastly, I can only imagine how the people of Panama must feel about this disgusting portrayal of their country. Do yourself a favor and avoid this movie at all costs.

-rdg


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