The Tailor of Panama

The Tailor of Panama is a 2001 spy thriller film directed by John Boorman from a screenplay he co-wrote with John le Carré and Andrew Davies. Based on le Carré's 1996 novel of the same name, it stars Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush. Rush portrays the title character, a former convict turned tailor who is strong-armed by an amoral MI6 agent (Brosnan) into spying on the Panamanian government. Jamie Lee Curtis, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine McCormack, Leonor Varela and Harold Pinter co-star, along with Daniel Radcliffe in his film debut. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2001, and was released theatrically in the United States by Columbia Pictures on 30 March. It received positive reviews, with praise for the performances of Brosnan and Rush, and grossed $28 million on a $21 million budget. Plot Andy Osnard is an MI6 spy reassigned to Panama after having an affair in Madrid with the foreign minister's mistress. His superior warns him of the corruption present in Panama, but Osnard views that as an opportunity. Consulting a list of British citizens residing in Panama, he meets Harry Pendel, the tailor to many of Panama's elite, including the President. Pendel, a gifted storyteller, passes himself off as being formerly of Savile Row, but is in fact an ex-con who used to run scams with his late uncle Benny. Pendel's American wife Louisa, the assistant to the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, is unaware of his criminal record. While Harry is a superb tailor, he is a bad businessman; his tailor shop is constantly in debt, and he owes $50,000 of Louisa's money to the bank for a farming business that failed. Knowing that Pendel needs money, Osnard offers to help him, if Pendel feeds him information about the elite of Panama City. Pendel agrees, and uses the money to pay off his debts and help his friend Mickie, a down-on-his-luck alcoholic, and his assistant Marta, who was raped and disfigured by Manuel Noriega's soldiers. However, Osnard soon requires better information, threatening to cut off the money and reveal that Pendel has been spying for a foreign government if he does not get what he wants.