MGM | 2006 | 107 mins. | Rated R
The fable of catching a tiger by the tail only to be bitten back serves as a wry allegory for the modern day booming economy of Ireland, dubbed the Celtic tiger, in John Boorman’s The Tiger’s Tail. A modern retelling of The Prince and The Pauper, the film centers on Liam O’Leary (Brendan Gleeson) a millionaire property developer who has his once perfect life taken over by a doppelganger. O’Leary becomes obsessed with finding out who the intruder is, as the double raids his bank account, moves into his home and takes his place in bed with his wife (Kim Cattrall). Now the pauper to the imposter’s prince, O’Leary is forced to reevaluate his life.
While The Tiger’s Tail has an interesting premise, unfortunately, it’s exceedingly boring. Slow and plodding, writer/director John Boorman has infused the story with too many unrelated threads. What could have been an intriguing character study or an interesting exploration of the desire to become some else and a look at a man’s re-examination of his purpose in life, is instead muddled in an awkward plot.
It’s really too bad the script isn’t a stronger one, because Brendan Gleeson gives a very strong performance. As both Liam and the imposter, he seethes with an unmistakable anger; It’s clear that the intent of The Tiger’s Tail was to point a finger at a society that has allowed such a huge gulf to exist between the haves and have nots. Gleason tries hard to bring the point home, even as the script crumbles under the weight of it all.
The Tiger’s Tail has one big fault even Brendan Gleeson’s solid work can’t fix. Boorman never gives the audience a solid reason for the doppelgangers existence. Yes, he’s down on his luck, while Liam is rich and blessed with a gorgeous wife. However, those reasons don’t account for the venom with which the double goes after him. It’s clearly very personal. Even after the identity of the double is revealed to be someone in his family, it’s not very convincing because Liam didn’t even realize he existed.
While I can’t say The Tiger’s Tail is an out-an-out terrible movie, it’s not one particularly worth seeing. While Boorman clearly had some good intentions with this film, the message of the wide gulf between the haves and have nots gets buried under the weight of a very clunky script.
Since I was sent a screener on a DVD-R, I don’t feel like I can fairly evaluate the audio and video. Commercially sold copies are presented in widescreen, with with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and English and Spanish subtitles.
There are no special features.
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”0.0/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”0.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”0.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”2.0/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
