2001:May:29
2001
I don't normally write movie reviews. I don't normally read movie reviews before I see a movie, but I nearly always read the reviews after I've seen a movie I liked. I am currently in the middle of doing this, but I was so astounded by what some of the reviewers thought of THE TAILOR OF PANAMA that I'm writing what I think before I forget. A bit of context: I'm a person who's always been a bit interested in the Panama Canal. I've never even seen pictures of Panama except for industrial looking photos of ships passing through the canal. Also, I'm having a bit of a political awakening. Now to the review. This film has been a languorous drug for me. I catch myself thinking about it every now a then. The opening was inspired. I loved the juxtaposition of cultures, and FINALLY, I got to see -in lovely 35mm anamorphic- the Panama Canal doing its thang. I greatly enjoyed the tropical beauty and splendor of this film. I loved the beautiful Versailles-like capitol building and embassy - the bourganvilla entertwining velvet chairs and amazing mosaic tiles and colonial architecture. All of the opulance in the film can be imagined as existing from raping and pillaging the country - all the beauty is from corrucption. Even our hero and his wife live in a lovely home that is presumable from the spoils of the wife (Jamie Lee Curtis)'s inheritance from her father who was an apparently VERY highly paid American engineer for the Canal. I mean a tailor (who never seemed to get paid by the powerful and corrupt officials) and a government liaison were living like royalty. I loved the opening shot of Harry (our hero) doing his Saville Row (!) craft. There were so many wonderful wink winks in the movie as well. At first, I thought that Mr. Brosnan (the anti-hero) was a bit over the top and Jamie Lee and Geoffrey Rush (the tailor and wife) had ZERO chemistry. After the end of the movie, I realized how funny and beautiful it all was. She loved him for making her laugh. He WAS a great storyteller. It was brilliant to have the chemistry implied by the husband and wife (by signs of him being thoughtful enough to call her and telling her a raunchy-ish anecdote, the birthday party for their daughter, etc.) but SHOWN chemistry between Osnard (Brosnan) and Harry (Geoffrey Rush - the tailor). They had it. There were so many funny juxtapositions and symbolic threads in this movie. One of my favorites was the "betrayal" of Osnard on Jamie Lee. What a great character Osnard is! When I write a "review" it's really more of a recommendation, so I'm not going to give away the plot, but the only weak point that still holds (and even it could be explained away as "truth stranger than fiction") was the leap of funding at the end. Great acting. Great story. The relationships were real and felt as if we just glimpsed at them for a bit. The movie can be better understood if you realize that Jamie Lee is mostly the "husband" and Geoffrey Rush is a play on the "wife". My very favorite was the dramatic finale. It seemed a funny, memorial to another great director! Now I'll go back to reading other people's reviews and thinking mostly "that's not how I read that character/situation/plot twist at all!"
