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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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The
Tailor of Panama
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Reviewed
by: |
Justin
Sallows |
| Genre: |
Drama
|
| Video: |
Anamorphic
2.35:1 Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English,
French |
| Length: |
1 hr. 49
min. |
| Rating: |
R |
| Release
Date: |
September
11th, 2001 |
| Studio: |
Columbia/Tristar
|
| Commentary:
|
Director
John Boorman |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
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None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
For all cast and crew |
|
Interviews: |
"A Perfect
Fit: A conversation with Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush" (24
min.) |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
1 Trailer |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Pierce Brosnan,
Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis, Catherine McCormack, Brendan
Gleeson |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by:
John Le Carre, John Boorman |
| Produced
by: |
Kevin Barker, John Boorman
|
| Directed
By: |
John Boorman
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| Music: |
Shaun Davey
|
| The
Review: |
This
is the dark Bond. He lies, he's decietful and a thief. Here
Pierce again plays an MI-6 agent, but his vices have caught
up with him so he is sent on a mission that Brittain is not
terribly concerned about just to get rid of him for awhile.
He is to get on the inside of the situation in Panama, and make
sure everything is on the up and up. This follows real events
to a point in that the US has turned over the Panama Canal to
the people of Panama. He quickly meets up with a tailor who
has a sorted past and blackmails him into giving him inside
information about underground rumblings and the social strata
of the town. The problem is that although he is aquainted with
various peoples, he doesn't really know anything. Faced with
having his store repossessed, he opts to make up stories about
radicals, and the sale of the canal to get his loan forgiven.
Dark Bond, excuse me, Osnard knows he's lieing, but sees his
lies as an opportunity to convince London officials to fund
the "uprising" so as to be on their side when they overthrow
the government. His plan is to take the money and run, leaving
Panama to sort itself out in his wake. Pierce is in top form
here, along with Rush who is always excellent. The real surprise
is the performances of the supporting cast, particularly Brendan
Gleeson (Braveheart, Lake Placid) as a drunken ex-radical. The
film itself was actually shot in Panama so the real city is
on display throughout the film. It's very interesting to see
the contrast between the rich areas and the poor ones. Brendan
Gleeson, Pierce and Geoffrey feel right at home on these streets.
Kudos to the costume department, they did a wonderful job. There
are undoubtedly many fans of this film, but I am not puzzled
by the fact that I didn't even realize it had played in theaters
despite hearing good things about it. It was not what we expected.
We expected a Thomas Crown Affair of action mystery and intrigue.
Instead we are given a tale of tall tails with a lot of scenes
of actors chewing up dialogue. This is a good film, but it's
not what we were expecting. |
| Image
and Sound |
TTOP
certainly looks wonderful as presented here. No scratches, dust
or compression artifacts are anywhere on this transfer. Colors
are accurate if not overly bright, but this is a kind of dark
comedy/film noir, so the slight color muting adds to the atmosphere.
As for the sound, it is adequate if not overwhelming. Of course,
this isn't Godzilla or Armageddon so the rear is not supposed
to attack you. It is used subtly for music cues and low-key
atmospheric effects. |
| The
Extras |
Although
the interview segment is really the only "special" feature,
it is quite enlightening. Pierce and Geoffrey are interviewed
together so they get the opportunity to pick up on each others
thoughts. They are quite forthcoming in their comments. They
were clearly both struck by the setting as well as the story.
You could tell they were both in love with their characters,
and that relish definately translated to the screen. |
| Commentary |
This
is a good commentary, but I would have loved at least one cast
member in there to spice it up. John knows the material and
relates his experience well, but all too often he discusses
the politics and other circumstances of Panama. This is somewhat
interesting, and even relates to the story since it revolves
around these themes; but I felt like I was studying for a term
paper at times. This is a fairly full commentary, however I
would have liked a lighter tone. I did however get a kick out
of his proposal that the "F" word and the "C" word were good
Anglo-Saxon words that he meant to bring back into normalcy.
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| Final
Words: |
I liked The Tailor of Panama, but
it seemed a little too independant to warrant a space on my
shelf. I enjoy character studies, I enjoy action, and I enjoy
dark comedy. TTOP takes a little of each but never fully delivers
on any of them. The film is enjoyable and satisfying, but
to own a DVD it has to hit me somewhere, anywhere on the mark.
The top notch acting and decent story can't quite overcome
the fact that I want BOND! I want the explosions, I want the
villains, I want the car chases, etc. It is a mistake if you
sit down with this DVD expecting those things. I knew they
weren't present, but I still wanted them anyway. The audio
and video quality are good, the interview is interesting and
the commentary is in depth if a little dry. If you are a fan
of the creative team of TTOP, you will enjoy it, but you may
find yourself putting it on ebay.
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