Tin e
______ L
A&E
CL ac I< amas P rìnt
WedNEsdAy, M ay 2, 2001
Tailor of Panama struggles for right fit
Yet, Geoffrey Hush shines in the film
ROBIN CONNER
Staff Writer
I don’t remember why I put
down John Le Carre’s 1996 novel,
The Tailor of Panama, a few
years ago after reading only one
chapter. I do remember that it was
a fine first chapter, which is why
I went to see how it turned out in
the new movie adaptation from
Columbia Pictures.
The Tailor of Panama, a spy
thriller/comedy directed by John
Boorman (Deliverance), paints
an interesting portrait of the ner
vous political atmosphere sur
rounding the return of the
Panama canal to Panama.
Tailor to the rich and power
ful, Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush)
comes equipped with some se
crets of his own and manages to
come up with more under pres
sure from British spy Andy
Osnard, played by Brosnan.
Though warned against spilling
the beans by his down-to-earth
secretary and by hallucinations
of his dead uncle Benny, Pendel
winds up entangling his friends
and family in his web of lies.
Jamie Lee Curtis tempts type
casting with the return of her
“wife in the dark” role from True
lies, but is enlightened a little too
late to get in on the action. That
is, unless you count her flirta
tions with Osnard, James Bond’s
obnoxiously shameless and less
talented evil twin.
So here’s the skinny: If you
just like to enjoy movies, you’ll
enjoy this one. You can’t help but
appreciate Rush’s outstanding
performance as the loose-lipped
but well-intentioned tailor, who
will keep you guessing on what
he’ll do next to save his soul.
Curtis is definitely tolerable, and
though you may not like
Brosnan, you’ll laugh at his
cheap tricks, as well as those of
the "incompetent
and insane Brit
ish and American
governments, re
spectively.
On the other
hand, if you feel
that movies owe
you something,
you will still enjoy
the tailor and the
scenery, but feel
distracted
by
Curtis and dis
gusted by Brosnan
(not to mention his
strangely effective
come-ons, which
had the whole au
dience wincing).
British spy Andy Osnard, played by Pierce Brosnan, contemplates his next
For better or
move in Tailor of Panama.
worse, “The Tailor
of Panama” is a film that is hard confused as to what label to put
to pin down. Seriously silly one on it. My advise is this - don’t
• ,
minute, seriously tragic the next; even try.
too real and surreal, it left me
Prodigal SummerXAevAs intriguing
characters with environmental issues
TAM OLIVER
A&E Editor
Barbara Kingsolver’s latest
novel, Prodigal Summer is filled
to the brim with insights about
nature.
Set in southern Appalachia,
the book follows one summer in
the lives of three women, who in
different ways, are in touch with
their environment. Deanna
Wolfe, a wildlife biologist, lives
in seclusion as she tends the
Zebulon National Forest for the
forest service. Her elation with
the discovery that coyote have
returned to the mountainous area
and are about to produce a litter
of pups is disturbed by the ar
rival of a young coyote bounty
hunter.
LusaMaluf Landowski, acity-
girl who marries a farmer, be
comes the farm’s sole care-
taker after her husband’s ac
cident. Her knowledge of na
ture is vast, but it originates
from books. She finds it
easier to become attached
to the land than to the farm
ers and their way of life that
has been passed down for
generations. If she stays on the
farm, she has to find a way to
make it pay for itself. Her search
for a solution exemplifies the
plight of many southern farmers
who have depended on growing
tobacco for many
years,
and now find them
selves fn a changing
country.
The third woman is
Nannie Rawley, an eld
erly farmer of organic
apples. Proud of the fact
that she was the first or
ganic apple grower in
Zebulon County, she is
the bane of neighbor
Garnet Walker’s ex-'
istence. Almost eighty
year-old, Garnet has a strong
sense of how things should be
and spends a good part of his
day worrying about what Nannie
will be up to next.
According to Garnet, Nannie
Think You’re Pregnant?
We can help you work through your choices.
PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS
Milwaukie
503.659.3336
Lloyd Center Area................... 503.284.1977
Gresham..................................503.666.6527
Lake Grove............................. 503.968.6780
Beaverton.....................
503.643.4503
SE Portland..... ........„.............. 503.777.7097
www.portlandprc.org
FREE Pregnancy Tests Confidential Counseling
bribes everyone with her home
made apple pies and gets away
with it to the extent that every
one in town has forgiven
her for once having an
illegitimate child.
They’ve forgotten
that she didn’t
have the shame to
even hide her
pregnancy and
that she bla
tantly raised the
child “...like she
had every right to pa
rade a bastard child
through a God-fearing
community.”
Garnet
Walker’s unyielding
sense of right
and
wrong
provide some
of the more hu
morous mo
ments in the novel as he
spies on Nannie and attempts to
make her life as miserable as he
thinks she is making his. Whether
sloshing through a weed-in
fested ditch to yank up one of
her home-made “NO SPRAY
ZONE” signs that is posted
along the roadside over his prop
erty line or simply hoping that
the pesticide he’s using drifts
over to her trees, he makes him
self into a mean-spirited, yet
comical, old man. It doesn’t help
matters that she always seems to
get the best of him.
Yet, the most enjoyable part of
the book comes with the abun
dant descriptions of nature, from
moths to coyotes. Kingsolver
has a graduate degree in
biology and she knows
her stuff. Her writing
is so lyri
cal
that
ev
ery
insect
she describes
becomes a pleas
ant short story within itself. Her
understanding of nature allows
her to intersperse environmental
lessons for those willing to lis
ten.
The interaction between
well-developed characters
makes the fiction novel Prodi
gal Summer enjoyable. At the
same time, it gently persuades
the reader to consider environ
mental issues important to our
continued existence and points
out how we are interrelated
with each other and all of na
ture.
Perfect Pizza & Deli
2262 Molalla Ave.
(503) 656-3020
Free 12oz Coke with purchase of any 9" sub $4.99
Or
Personal Pizza 4 toppings $4.99
Student ID card is your coupon
Why settle for less than perf ect?
Return
to India
Authors' night
features tales of the
Indian Diaspora in
fiction and memoir
As a part of International Cel
ebration Week, Authors' Night
tonight will feature two women writ
ers that honor their Indian heritage
through works of fiction, memoir
and cookbooks.
Mira Kamdar, Senior Fellow at
the World Policy Institute at New
School University, will be reading
from her memoir Motiba's Tattoos:
A Granddaughter's Journey into
Her Indian Family's Past which
tells of her grandmother and her
family's immigration to Burma and
then the United States from India.
Kamdar's writing has appeared
in publications around the world,
including The International Her
ald Tribune, The Times of India,
The Chicago Tribune and The Los
Angelos Times.
Bharti Kirchner is the author of
two novels and over 70 articles
about Indian cookery and fitness
that have appeared in magazines
such as Food and Wine, Writer's
Digest, and The Seattle Times. She
is the author of four cookbooks
including The Bold Vegetarian,
The Healthy Cuisine of India and
India Inspired.
The event will be presented in
the Gregory Forum at 7 p.m. and is
co-sponsored by Friends of the
Library and the English Depart
ment. Although admission is free,
contributions of $2 to Friends of
the Library will be appreciated.
Authors' books will be available
for purchase and signing.