The Tailor of Panama

"In a place this treacherous, what a good spy needs is a spy of his own."

2001 1h 49m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 577

DramaThriller

Synopsis

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A British spy is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife, who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Canal.

“In a place this treacherous, what a good spy needs is a spy of his own.”

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Cast

Pierce Brosnan
Andy Osnard
Geoffrey Rush
Harry Pendel
Jamie Lee Curtis
Louisa Pendel
Leonor Varela
Marta
Brendan Gleeson
Mickie Abraxas
Harold Pinter
Uncle Benny
Catherine McCormack
Francesca Deane
Daniel Radcliffe
Mark Pendel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Boorman
Writers: John Boorman, Andrew Davies, John le Carré
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: Ireland, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Ireland, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Boorman, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Shaun Davey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ron Davis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In a place this treacherous, what a good spy needs is a spy of his own.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Boorman directs. Philippe Rousselot behind the camera. Shaun Davey scores. Ron Davis cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Ireland, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

125 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
3International production across 2 countries: Ireland, United States of America.
4Directed by John Boorman, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Shaun Davey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ron Davis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush and Jamie Lee Curtis carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In a place this treacherous, what a good spy needs is a spy of his own.".
9IMDB entry: tt0236784 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "dancing", "politics", "birthday", "spy".

The technical file

Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Original score: Shaun Davey
Editing: Ron Davis
Production design: Derek Wallace
Costume design: Maeve Paterson
Makeup / hair: Bron Roylance
VFX supervisor: Peter Chiang
Sound: Tom Johnson
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $21,000,000
Box office: $28,000,000
Return: 133% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Tailor of Panama (2001)

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John Boorman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-08-27
★ 6/10
The ambitious and probably quite duplicitous "Luxmore" (David Hayman) manages to salvage something for his MI6 agent friend "Andy" (Pierce Brosnan) from his latest peccadillo by having him sent to Panama to represent British intelligence. Of course he's less than impressed with a posting to this political backwater, but fairly swiftly realises that there is plenty going on to keep him occupied - above and beneath the sheets. His principal contact proves to be an eccentric tailor (Geoffrey Rush) who owes a small fortune and who is married to "Louisa" (Jamie Lee Curtis) - who helps run the hugely strategic canal. Tailoring proves to be quite an useful trade as it gets "Harry" into all sorts of interesting and privileged locations - including the salon of the Panamanian President who is considering whether selling the waterway off in return for much need investment for his country might not be a bad thing. Of course, this information - assuming that any of it is actually true - must be handled delicately as it has value both commercially and diplomatically, and it's now that "Andy" and "Harry" must decide just where any loyalties lie. Did anyone else think there is something of the "Dr. Strangelove" to this? The frequent attempts to satirise the intelligence gathering community, the nest featherers, the diplomatic half-wits and the preference of US foreign policy to look for a remote-controlled military solution before any long term one are all included here in this fairly faithful adaptation of John Le Carré's novel. Sadly, though, I felt that Rush over-cooked his effort to the point where it bordered a little too close to farce and though Brosnan looked the part, he brings little screen presence instead relying on his now rather jaded 007 persona without the gadgets, gizmos or John Barry. Indeed, some of the CGI production looks little better than that from a few of Roger Corman's movies forty years earlier at Hammer. Curtis features too sparingly to make much difference and the conclusion is all just a bit too rushed as if they ran out of filming days or were hoping that a sequel might emerge from the proceedings to take us on a morning after journey. Boorman keeps it moving, but I could never quite take it seriously - sorry.

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