Tailor of Panama, The

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Energetic and inventive, it's a satirical, smart, grown-up thriller.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A real movie, rich and atmospheric, savoring its disreputable characters and their human weaknesses.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Brosnan turns his typical talent on its head. So does director Boorman, who forsakes his usual tingling virtuosity.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Like a Bach toccata or a frosty drink on a sunlit veranda, a first-class movie spy thriller can offer one of life's cooler, more elegant treats. The Tailor of Panama fits that category.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

In a world full of off the rack thrillers, it's fine boutique quality.

Variety David Stratton

Classy, articulate and richly humorous.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Benefits from delicious acting from co-stars Geoffrey Rush and Pierce Brosnan, a mordant script co-written by le Carre (along with Boorman and Andrew Davies), and the distinctive touch of its director.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

The film starts out as a freewheeling farce and turns into a pitch-black burlesque with surprising depths of feeling.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The first really good spy movie about the impossibility, under present historical circumstances, of making a really good spy movie.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A cut above last season's best studio offerings. The performances are well turned out. The morality is stylishly gray. The attitude is almost fashionable.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

A sophisticated, subtle adult entertainment that is also a compliment to the audience.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

A fast, funny film that goes down like a cyanide-spiked piña colada.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's a humorous film, to be sure, but there's also a stringent vein of giddy realism to it.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Overall, it's a hand-tailored job in a marketplace filled with off-the-rack movies.

USA Today Mike Clark

Brosnan and Rush are a smooth fit, playing off each other like a snappy shirt and tie.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Many spy capers lose their intended irony and wry black humor, but The Tailor of Panama stays stylishly on target in ways that would put a heat-seeking missile to shame.

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

Forget the end and there is much to enjoy here.

Slate David Edelstein

I fear that the cozy domestic ending will leave audiences disappointed, convinced that they've seen something smaller and less momentous than they have.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A cut above the preposterous action spectacles that now pass for espionage films.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The show belongs to Geoffrey Rush in a note-perfect performance as Harry Pendel, the tailor.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Despite a dissatisfying conclusion, a sense that things don't completely jell, The Tailor of Panama is lively and provocative.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

If The Tailor of Panama doesn't quite gel, the attempt is still worth savoring.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

An Austin Powers movie for grown-ups.

Film.com David D'Arcy

If anything saves this movie, it's the acting.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Strains too hard to seem smart and savvy.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The rhythms excite expectations that go unanswered.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The script gets so silly, the Monty Python troupe would reject it.

Time Richard Schickel

The film finally collapses under the burden of implausibility.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

The movie is crudely jokey and, finally, a wimpy betrayal of its source.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Anyone expecting a flashy Bond-style fantasy is going to be disappointed.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Only Le Carre fans with tin ears and clouded eyes will fail to note the film's sour tone, crude performances and drab look.