Product: Tailor of Panama [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 4.0
Good Movie, Okay DVD Extras
This review is broken into two parts: Movie itself, DVD extras.Movie:Perhaps John Le Carre books do not translate smoothly into movie, because Le Carre's characters are neither good nor evil, they merely are. Unfortunately, in this manifestation of Tailor of Panama, Brosnan's character, Andy Osnard, is made to be more evil than neutral.The movie does feature the obscure dialogue you would expect from Le Carre, but not the action one might expect from a purported "spy thriller".Jamie Lee Curtis is underutilized, but good.Geoffrey Rush's character is a bumbling ex-con who aspires to importance. Those aspirations lead to his almost downfall.I have read the many other reviews of this film, most disparaging. I found it pleasant to the eye, with interesting dialogue, even with a predictable plot. The direction by Boorman is predictably understated, with a dialogue driven story, and action merely implied.DVD:The alternate ending is [not good].The interview with Rush and Brosnan quite honestly adds nothing to the film.The cast filmography is helpful to identify several familiar if not well known character actors.The commentary by Boorman is somewhat enlightening.This film would have benefited from the Infinifilm treatment, as the backstory from the book and the history of Panama could have been more fully developed. These extras don't go beyond one's minimal expectations.Movie: 4 stars; DVD extras: 3 stars. 4 stars overall.