Critic Reviews
Tailor of Panama, The (2001) Rank 5 Reviews
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based on (184) reviews
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Flipside Movie Emporium (Rob Vaux)
Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
"It's more like Harry's handmade suits--specially made for the person of taste." ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Sean Axmaker)
Energetic and inventive, it's a satirical, smart, grown-up thriller. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Sean Axmaker)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Like a Bach toccata or a frosty drink on a sunlit veranda, a first-class movie spy thriller can offer one of life's cooler, more elegant treats. The Tailor of Panama fits that category. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
A real movie, rich and atmospheric, savoring its disreputable characters and their human weaknesses. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Brosnan turns his typical talent on its head. So does director Boorman, who forsakes his usual tingling virtuosity. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Edward Johnson-Ott
FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Tracksounds! (Christopher Coleman)
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Welcome to Panama--Casablanca without heroes. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The Cincinnati Enquirer (Margaret A. McGurk)
Chief among them is the wry, cynical, bracing yarn by novelist John Le Carre, on whose book the movie is based. He also worked on the script adaptation with Andrew Davies and director John Boorman. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at The Cincinnati Enquirer (Margaret A. McGurk)
Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
In a world full of off the rack thrillers, it's fine boutique quality. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Lisa Schwarzbaum)
San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)
JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Reel Criticism - Honest Reviews
filmcritic.com makes alterations to the Tailor
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
If the film's emotions are not always in balance, its clumsiness is also part of the fun. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
A sophisticated, subtle adult entertainment that is also a compliment to the audience. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Salon.com (Charles Taylor)
Baseline.Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
The near faithful screen adaptation, directed with finesse by John Boorman captures the spirit of the novel. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Baseline.Hollywood.com (Ted Murphy)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Benefits from delicious acting from co-stars Geoffrey Rush and Pierce Brosnan, a mordant script co-written by le Carre (along with Boorman and Andrew Davies), and the distinctive touch of its director. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
Sophisticated teens might enjoy this cerebral/satirical thriller rather than the usual special-effect film. Parents should know that the criminal/hero gets away unpunished. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
www.susangranger.com (Susan Granger)
Pierce Brosnan may play a British spy but he's no 007 in this caustic, clever, tantalizing romp of international intrigue. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at www.susangranger.com (Susan Granger)
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
The first really good spy movie about the impossibility, under present historical circumstances, of making a really good spy movie. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Variety (David Stratton)
Classy, articulate and richly humorous. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Variety (David Stratton)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
A cut above last season's best studio offerings. The performances are well turned out. The morality is stylishly gray. The attitude is almost fashionable. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Time (Richard Schickel)
The film finally collapses under the burden of implausibility. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
Mr. Showbiz (Kevin Maynard)
A fast, funny film that goes down like a cyanide-spiked piña colada. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Mr. Showbiz (Kevin Maynard)
Hollywood Jesus Visual Reviews
Ruthless, seductive British spy Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) may have been banished to Panama, but he?s got a secret weapon?Harry Pendel (Academy Award? winner Geoffrey Rush), a Cockney ex-con who has reinvented himself as a popular tailor to the rich ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Hollywood Jesus Visual Reviews
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
It's a humorous film, to be sure, but there's also a stringent vein of giddy realism to it. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Greenwich Village Gazette (Eric Lurio)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
A Guide to Current DVD (Mark McLeod)
ninth symphony films
JoBlo's Movie Emporium reviews "The Tailor of Panama"
MovieFreak.com (Dennis Landmann)
Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (Greg Dean Schmitz)
John Boorman's direction here is impeccable, capturing well the look and sounds of Panama City, and mixing it in with the film's story. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (Greg Dean Schmitz)
AboutFilm.com (Carlo Cavagna)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
The King's Room (Paul Perkins)
Shannon Patrick Sullivan
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
UpcomingDiscs.com (Jeremy Frost)
DVD Clinic ("Professor Steve")
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Palo Alto Online (Joe Mader)
filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
Somebody told Pierce Brosnan to change his image. In The Tailor of Panama -- based on John Le Carré's novel and directed by John Boorman (Beyond Rangoon, Zardoz) -- Brosnan trades in the sophistication of James Bond for the identity of crude, disgraced sp ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Movie Habit (Andrea Birgers)
The Popkorn Junkie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
Well-tailored but not as well as many of John Boorman’s other films. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Eleanor Ringel Gillespie)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Fans of James Bond films may be disappointed, but those familiar with le Carre's novels should be elated. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Matinee Magazine (Joe McGovern)
The notion of James Bond slow-dancing with the Marquis de Sade is too iconographic to resist. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Matinee Magazine (Joe McGovern)
Revenge of the Audience (Erik Gregersen)
Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
Palo Alto Weekly (Joe Mader)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Anyone venturing into The Tailor of Panama anticipating a James Bond movie is in for a big surprise. The expectation is not entirely out of the question. After all, putting together the name "Pierce Brosnan" with the word "spy" immediately conjures images ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
WHSmith.co.uk review
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
LowComDom Online Film Reviews
3 Black Chicks ("Bams")
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Kevin Clemons)
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
25frames.org (Christoph Huber)
DVD Net (Michael Chappell)
DVD Verdict (Barrie Maxwell)
Popkorn Junkie's review of The Tailor of Panama
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)
eye WEEKLY (Jason Anderson)
Cineclub-Filmkritik
The Net-Monster reviews "The Tailor of Panama"
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Cinenganos (Luis Martinez)
No es una película fácil ni para aquellos con estómago débil, debido a su explícito contenido sexual, su fuerte carga inmoral, su lenguaje y algunas escenas de violencia. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Cinenganos (Luis Martinez)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
A cut above the preposterous action spectacles that now pass for espionage films. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Movie Vault (mazzyboi)
Slate (David Edelstein)
I fear that the cozy domestic ending will leave audiences disappointed, convinced that they've seen something smaller and less momentous than they have. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Despite a dissatisfying conclusion, a sense that things don't completely jell, The Tailor of Panama is lively and provocative. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
DVD Town (Yunda Eddie Feng)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The show belongs to Geoffrey Rush in a note-perfect performance as Harry Pendel, the tailor. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
artechock (Thomas Willmann)
IndependentCritics.com (Jacob Hall)
Rovin' and Ravin' with Mike
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
The Hot Button (David Poland)
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Boston Phoenix
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Kino (Alessandro Bencivenni)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Reel.com (Tor Thorsen)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Political Film Society
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
hybridmagazine.com
Big Picture Big Sound (Roburado)
CinemaSense.Com: Movie Reviews of the Heart
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
Funny, frisky and always on the right side of plausible. Mission accomplished. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
A cut above the preposterous action spectacles that now pass for espionage films... ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Film.com (David D'Arcy)
If anything saves this movie, it's the acting. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Film.com (David D'Arcy)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
A hypnotic film that stays resonantly humane even as Boorman skewers British and American diplomacy with martini-dry wit. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
An Austin Powers movie for grown-ups. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Matt's Movie Reviews (Matt Easterbrook)
" ... veers uneasily between drama and farce, not really succeeding at either." ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Matt's Movie Reviews (Matt Easterbrook)
cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
LA BUTACA. Revista de cine
Moviola (Jorge G. Avila Andrade)
Boxoffice Magazine
John Le Carre's "The Tailor of Panama" makes for a very strange movie by any standard. The twists and turns are vintage Le Carre and the technical care very much what one expects of director John Boorman, but the nuances of the piece are a bit of a ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine
homevideo.about.com (Ivana Redwine)
Hollywood.com (--)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
DigitalVD.de (Carsten Scheibe)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Neither thrilling nor particularly funny. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
The rhythms excite expectations that go unanswered. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
mazzyboi's movie page (Angelo Aquino)
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
The script gets so silly, the Monty Python troupe would reject it. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Movies For Guys reviews The Tailor of Panama
Pierce Brosnan plays Andy Osnard, a British spy... but not the British spy. Andy isn't nearly as nice as Bond, which should be refreshing but somehow doesn't turn out that way. Andy is assigned to Panama due to problems in his previous assignment but ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Movies For Guys reviews The Tailor of Panama
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
The movie is crudely jokey and, finally, a wimpy betrayal of its source. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at LA Weekly (Ella Taylor)
Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
The film, for all its earnestness, snaky comedy, and would-be intelligence, never manages any real fizz. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)
eFilmCritic.com (Greg Muskewitz)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
eFilmCritic Reviews
he spy-like espionage that we are treated to here (based on the book by John le Carré, who co-scripts along with Boorman and Andrew Davies) is about a smug, glib, exiled British spy Andy Osnard (Pierce Brosnan), now stuck in Panama, who harps on the ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at eFilmCritic Reviews
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)
Anyone expecting a flashy Bond-style fantasy is going to be disappointed. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Bob Graham)
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
The film starts out as a freewheeling farce and turns into a pitch-black burlesque with surprising depths of feeling. ...read the complete Tailor of Panama movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
User Reviews
by G. Morley "G. Mor... on February 06, 2009
I saw this film on DVD years ago, shortly after it came out. At that point in my apparently sheltered life, I had never seen nor heard of Geoffrey Rush. This was my very first exposure to him in any capacity. Well, all I could keep saying was -- where ...
by J. Walworth on October 13, 2008
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 ...
by F. S. L'hoir on September 16, 2008
I've watched and enjoyed "The Taylor 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 ...
by M. C. ELLIOTT "hi... on October 17, 2007
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, ...
by Alamo_guy on February 09, 2007
I really like this little spy film. Great performances all around. A real change of pace. ...
by gobirds2 on February 09, 2007
I enjoyed this movie immensely. I found it to be very interesting. Geoffrey Rush is very charismatic and rather incomparable in his performance as the Tailor of Panama. This film was made as one of Brosnan's non-Bond films during his tenure as 007 and he ...
by Likes to listen t... on January 09, 2007
This is an excellent adaptation of the book. The casting and acting is excellent. Pierce Brosnan is so good in this he should have won the Oscar. Geoffrey Rush is such an excellent actor and this role is perfectly suited to him. I can't help but think ...
by Joanne A. Vega "B... on March 09, 2006
A really great other side of Pierce Brosnan as a bad guy and someone that he uses that is better than he is. ...
by inframan on October 16, 2005
I can't believe so many people have trashed this film. It's extremely well written, acted, directed & shot, albeit quite low-key in its manner.
Well, yes, I can believe it, because the message it delivers - very entertainingly & very drily - ...
by A viewer "A viewe... on November 12, 2004
This movie flows real well. The plot is intriguing and everyone did a great job playing their parts. Osnard is sly and very convincing. He is played perfectly by the very talented Pierce Brosnan. But my favorite character here is Marta, who is played by ...
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