Film: The Tailor of Panama
Genre: Espionage, Drama
Year: 2001
The Tailor of Panama is the kind of film I usually quite happily avoid. I'm not a big fan of spy movies, though I occasionally watch some of the James Bond series, but since this film stars Geoffrey, as well as Pierce Brosnan in a very anti-James Bond-esque role, then I was eager to see it. Geoffrey plays the part of the title role, that of the tailor of panama himself, an unassuming Cockney named Harry Pendel who has tried to leave his past life of crime behind him in England, and has started his life afresh in Panama. Pendel seems to be a rather quiet and anxious man who is a hard worker, as well as a good father and husband, but all of this seeming stability is thrown into disarray upon the arrival of arrogant spy, Osnard (Brosnan), into Panama. Osnard chooses to tag on to Pendel, seeking information from him about the control of the Panama canal and the country's politics in general, which he is hoping the tailor might provide - but Harry's knack for making up stories leads him to tell some dreadful lies which almost destroy his life and everyone he holds dear.
As Geoffrey said in an interview regarding the film, Harry is very much an antidote to his previous role of the Marquis de Sade; practically everything Harry is, the Marquis isn't. Harry isn't selfish, he isn't self-centred, and he doesn't like to make such a spectacle of himself. In truth, Harry is a good man, who, like many of us, has commited a few sins in the past, but who wishes to leave it at that and get on with his life. Osnard threatens to upset all of his idealistic dreams, though -- and almost succeeds. Geoffrey plays Pendel as a likable but rather pitiful individual who digs himself only deeper into trouble the more he tries to escape it, and who is the film's undoubted victim. His smart dresscode and success as a family man, but universal human weaknesses, make him a person that we can all relate to, and therefore makes him into a very plausible character in what is at times a bleak and confusing film. It is, if nothing else, another role which helps to prove Geoffrey's versatility as an actor -- his ability to turn his hand to any type of role, and deliver.
Screen Caps:
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