TRAVEL LATIN AMERICA
MAY 2001
The Tailor of Panama
Plenty of scenes from Panama City and the canal - along with an entertaining performance by Pierce Brosnan - justify seeing this
BY JOACHIM BAMRUD
The Tailor Panama has many good things going for it: It's got actors like Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis. Its plot seems to work OK. And last, but not least: It was actually shot in the country where the plot takes place.
Yet, for anyone remotely familiar with Panama, the plot actually stinks. The movie is based on the best-selling novel by British author John le Carré, who apparently has been unable to create quality novels based on topics other than the Cold War. His most recent book, on the pharmaceutical industry, received poor reviews from experts.
In the case of The Tailor of Panama, le Carré came up with a far-fetched story about the United States willing to invade Panama again to secure control of the Panama Canal after getting some information from a British spy (in the movie, played by Brosnan).
Yet, maybe we're being unfair. After all, the plot of the movie is not less credible than other typical action movies, including James Bond. So, if you forget the facts and just take the movie as an entertainment product, it does work.
The acting of Brosnan, Rush and Lee Curtis is good and credible, as is the performance of actor Brendan Gleeson (The General). It is particularly enjoyable to watch Brosnan - the current James Bond - play a British spy so corrupt and evil.
However, one annoying scene has Gleeson singing in Spanish with a terrible accent, which weakens the role since he's supposed to be a Panamanian politician. Director John Boorman (Deliveranceand Hope and Glory) should have cut out that scene or done a voice-over.
To Boorman's (and the producers') credit, the movie was actually filmed on location, which is a rare occurrance for your typical Hollywood movie. In the course of the movie you see the canal, the presidential palace, the poor area around the palace, the banking district and the upscale Paitilla neighborhood.
You can even see Sandra Sandoval, Panama's hottest tipica singer, perform with her band.
While Panama City does offer more (including the beautiful Plaza de Francia, which was seen in one episode of the US TV series JAG), The Tailor of Panama provides some welcome footage from Panama. Which justifies going to see the movie.
Joachim Bamrud was a Panama correspondent for Reuters and UPI between September 1990 and April 1992. He also lived in Panama in 1999.
|