Jamie Lee Curtis and Pierce Brosnan in "The Tailor of Panama."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush Director: John Boorman Rated: R, with violence, sex, nudity Length: 109 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(April 20, 2001) --"Panama?"

So says incredulous British espionage agent Andy Osnard, when he's banished at the start of The Tailor of Panama.

Osnard has been a bad boy. An amoral cutup, his gambling debts and reckless seductions have made him an embarrassment to the Crown. His last chance is a posting to Panama.

Since the debauched and desperate Osnard is played by Pierce Brosnan -- normally of suave 007 fame -- The Tailor of Panama instantly fascinates.

A tale of misguided and inflated espionage at a time of peace, this smart John Boorman adaptation of the John Le Carre novel offers a juicy combination of dark wit and subtle intigue.

And it happens at a time and place that is, as a character says, "A Casablanca without heroes."

Osnard arrives in Central America after the successful handover of the canal; there doesn't seem to be anything worth spying on. But Osnard needs some eye-catching activity to climb out of this hellhole.

That's when he targets Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), a British expatriate and posh tailor to the upper echelons of the Panamanian government and the British community.

Pendel has been thriving on a lie for years: He says he's of Braithwaite & Pendel, a tailoring firm late of London's Saville Row. In reality, he's an ex-con who learned his tailoring in the slammer.

Osnard knows the truth. He blackmails Pendel into providing information about his Panamanian customers and friends.

Pendel agrees, but only to maintain the security of his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) and children. When Osnard tries to appeal to his patriotism, Pendel replies, "I had it out in prison -- without an anesthetic."

Now there are two desperate men in cahoots. Pendel invents tales of fomenting revolution, and Osnard passes them on to headquarters.

But what tangled webs they weave. Pendel's tales inadvertently put his secretary and a friend in jeopardy. Urged on by the ruthless Osnard, Pendel's imagination soon generates a self-fulfilling prophecy: Panama is headed for revolution.

The multilayered brilliance and complex characters of novelist John Le Carre haven't always been well-served by films (The Russia House, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold).

But veteran director Boorman captures the cynical humor, satirical intelligence and ominous locales of a tale influenced by Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana.

He also has assembled the perfect cast. As the tailor, Rush represents the dire imagination and ingenuity of a man who's created a life out of whole cloth. It's Rush's most challenging role -- and satisfying performance -- since Shine.

Curtis is also marvelous as the unsuspecting wife whose world collapses. Her warm, sexy performance puts heart in this otherwise-callous film.

But the film's eye-opening performance is by Brosnan as the anti-Bond. He's to be applauded for putting a dark, realistic tweak on his franchise character, and for doing it with such edgy wit and intelligence, and nary the trace of a wink.

Brosnan and Rush make an ideal odd couple, tailoring revolution from their desperate imaginations.