Product: Tailor of Panama [VHS] (2001)
Rating: 1.0
Incompetent and dull non-thriller
Terrible film, made worse by the fact that the author of the book on which this rubbish is based, John le Carre, was not only part of the script writing team, but also credited as an executive producer. One can only assume therefore that he was happy with the film, but it is two hours I'll never have again.The basic premise is ridiculous. The motivation of the cynical, semi-disgraced British spy Andy Osnard in stealing millions in American funds destined to support a bogus rebellion in Panama is never established, and the wholesale and gullible buy-in by the American intelligence community and military to the fanciful presentation of events by Osnards's middle-management boss is utterly unbelievable, even with the hindsight of the real-life Iraq WMD intelligence debacle. That director John Boorman shot two endings, the unused of which is included in the DVD extras, and both of which are unsatisfactory, betrays the fact that no one had any idea how to end this train-wreck, and the whole lack of coherence and excitement in the piece seems hard to fathom given the talent involved.Brosnan, as Osnard, and Geoffrey Rush as Harry Pendel, the gullible and tall story-telling tailor press-ganged into serving Her Majesty's government, work well together, and at least breathe some life into the generally insipid dialog. Unfortunately however, Jamie Lee Curtis, despite her fine acting credentials, is hopelessly miscast as Harry's all-American-girl wife. 1 out of 5 for Brosnan and Rush giving it a pretty good shot, but that's about it - otherwise, a complete waste of time.