The Tiger's Tail (2006)

16% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(629 ratings)

Deliverance and Tailor of Panama director John Boorman returns to the director's chair for this tale of a hawkish businessman who slowly finds his life being taken over by the twin brother he never knew he had. Liam O'Leary (Brendan Gleeson) is a no-nonsense real-estate developer who isn't above… More Deliverance and Tailor of Panama director John Boorman returns to the director's chair for this tale of a hawkish businessman who slowly finds his life being taken over by the twin brother he never knew he had. Liam O'Leary (Brendan Gleeson) is a no-nonsense real-estate developer who isn't above greasing the politician's wheels a bit to get the permits he needs. His 20-year marriage to Jane (Kim Cattrall) has been stale for over a decade, and his adolescent son, Connor (Brian Gleeson), has most recently taken to communism as a means of showcasing his rebellious streak. Though Liam still dotes on his aging mother (Moira Deady), it's plain to see that his sister, Oona (Sinéad Cusack), is the favored child in the family. One day, stuck in traffic on the way home from work and frustrated at his inability to obtain planning permission for a multi-million pound stadium, Liam is shocked to see his spitting image approach his car and begin cleaning the windshield while begging for change. Now, after discovering that he was not only adopted but has an identical twin as well, Liam finds his life rapidly being taken over by a cunning doppelganger who has had enough of life on the streets, and has finally found a means of turning his luck around by simply stepping into the shoes of his more successful counterpart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: John Boorman
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 26, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Aug 11, 2009
Studio: Buena Vista

Critic Reviews

David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
A messy but absorbing mystery.
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
Amateurish technical contrivance isn't this awkward, retro failure's only deficiency.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
The world recession has made this suspenseful film bitingly relevant beyond the local problems of the maiming of "The Celtic Tiger."
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
A real waste of a potentially interesting premise.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
The Tiger's Tail, like Cassandra's Dream, prominently features a boat that is both symbol of financial attainment and emotional ruin; it also finds a master filmmaker defying the "show, don't tell" principle with almost crippling cynicism.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
If there's anything about the movie that really rises above the mediocre, it's Gleeson's fantastic performance.
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
An almost madcap comic pace battles with thundercloud-building drama . . . The social commentary can be earnest and bald, with the mythic overtones seemingly contrived to tumble O'Leary into the class gap on his arse.
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
Far from being a roaring, sinewy beast with a lot of bite that the title might suggest, John Boorman's latest has more in common with a lumbering white elephant.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
John Boorman's tale of doppelgängers in Dublin would like very much to spook us, but keeps tripping over its loose script and bizarre plot lines.
Jamie Russell, Film4
Not quite a car crash of a movie, Boorman's uneven black comedy is more like a fender-bender. It falls into the twilight zone between so bad it's good and so bad it's bad.
Neil Smith, BBC
As tigers go, it's all growl and no teeth.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

"The Tiger's Tail" starts in the middle of a massive traffic jam that has Liam O'Leary(Brendan Gleeson, great in a dual role) who is on his way to accept an award. This is happening just as his bid was denied to build a soccer stadium and as he is possibly losing… More
"The Tiger's Tail" starts in the middle of a massive traffic jam that has Liam O'Leary(Brendan Gleeson, great in a dual role) who is on his way to accept an award. This is happening just as his bid was denied to build a soccer stadium and as he is possibly losing his mind when he spots a mirror image of himself walking in the road. He turns out to be real when he accosts Liam in a bathroom, giving some unnerving news that sends him first to his mother(Moira Deady) and then to his older sister Oona(Sinead Cusack) who in reality gave birth to him when she was 15 in London where she left behind his twin. "The Tiger's Tail" is a daft concoction with possibly the mother of all midlife crises that while unpredictable does also tend to rely on the odd contrivance to keep the story moving. As grounded as the movie is, it might also have been interesting if it had taken a supernatural approach. What it is concerned with is identity in a country where there is a huge disparity between rich and poor, like everywhere else. Since this is Ireland, the subject of the divided country lies just beneath the surface. As far as the divided man goes, the double thinks Liam's life could have been his but then Liam is pretty much a self made man.
meril l

I got really into this movie, even though it wasn't that great. Go figure. I got really annoyed at the doppelganger. :P

Cast

            Brendan Gleeson as Liam O'Leary

            Kim Cattrall as Jane O'Leary

            Ciarán Hinds as Father Andy

            Sinead Cusack as Oona

            John Kavanagh as Harry Oona's Husband

            Ruth McCabe as Large Woman

            Sean McGinley as Declan Murray

            Cathy Belton as Sally

            Briain Gleeson as Connor O'Leary

            Angeline Ball as Ursula

            Stanley Townsend as Jim Brady The Banker

            Moira Deady as Maeve Liam's Mother

            Michael McElhatton as Doctor Alex Loden

            Michael Fitzgerald as Male Nurse

            Denis Conway as Bertie Brennan

            Charlene McKenna as Samantha

            Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Larry Cooney

            Ruth Lawlor as Harry's Secretary

            Eanna Mac Liam as The Beggar

            Conor Mullen as MC

            Regan O'Brien as Nurse

            Derry Power as Eddie

            Ned Dennehy as Felim

            Gary Murphy as Garda

            Martin Murphy as Garda 1

            David Herlihy as Paul Ursula's Husband

            Aonghus Og McAnally as Garda 2

            Mark Lambert as District Judge

            Philip O'Sullivan as Assistant Governor

            Paolo Tullio as Patrick Le Say

            Nigel Linden as Samantha's Boyfriend

            Geoff Minogue as Ambulance Driver

            Frank Gleeson as The Double's Double
See full cast