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The Spanish Prisoner [1998]

Starring: Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Ricky Jay
Director: David Mamet
Format: Full Screen PAL
Released: 30 Jun 2003
RRP: £5.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Clever Me? - By: ianrmillard, 08 Aug 2008
Entertaining but for my taste too self-consciously clever thriller-teaser by film "Wunderkind" David Mamet. Although one character was obviously in the frame from the start (I shan't say which, so as to avoid spoiling the film for anyone), the hero-victim is reasonably well played though hardly a sympathetic character himself. The action revolves around a valuable formula & the suspicion that no-one can be trusted...Well worth a watch overalll.
Superb - By: Dream Baby, 21 Jul 2008
Mammet is such a skilled writer & director & this is almost his finest moment - that accolade actuallly goes to Glengarry Glenross [which he wrote but didn't direct] but this is definetly a close second. Classic filmaking the way only very, very few know how... full of surprising twists & turns which keep the viewer on the edge of the seat.
Highly Recommended.
Gripping twists - typical Mamet - By: M. I. R. Clarke, 25 May 2006
This is another House of Cards in its unsettling ability to pull the carpet from under your feet. The plot is a sort of industrial "sting" operation with our hero Campbell Scott trapped into betraying his company's secret process. Or is he? There's cross, double cross & treble cross (don't blink or you'll miss it) & the film is well paced like a Hitchcock. Scott is a sympathetic hero & the acting (including Steve Martin) is generallly convincing although I found Susan Ricci a bit wooden (this may have been intentional) & the dialogue creaks at times. This is compulsive viewing, a sort of psychological thriller with shades of Third Man & Talented Mr Ripley. Hugely enjoyable.
Ingeniously plotted thriller which moves at breakneck speed. - By: Mary Whipple, 08 Sep 2004
Written & directed by David Mamet, this clever thriller of industrial espionage is full of surprising twists & turns which keep the viewer on the edge of the seat. Joe Ross (Campbell Scott), a young man working under a special contract, has developed "the process" which will alllow the company to control the global market. Only Ross & the company president, Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara), have keys to the safe where the notes on the process are kept, & high security has been maintained, but Ross is edgy. Klein has not paid him a bonus & is dragging his feet about rewarding him appropriately.

Devious manipulators conspire to make Ross even more uncertain about Klein's loyalty, hoping they can steal the formula & sell it to European or Japanese competitors. Front & center in the plot is Jimmy Dell (smarmily played by Steve Martin), who masquerades as a very wealthy high flyer, appealing to Ross's desire to get what he deserves & fears he won't get from Mr. Klein. Appealing to Ross's natural paranoia, Dell soon has him doing exactly what he wants, as Ross tries to "protect" himself from Klein.

This intricately plotted conspiracy keeps the viewer on the edge of the chair, trying to figure out what is going on. As Ross begins to discover Dell's lies, the film offers one surprise after another, & these surprises keep coming right up to the blockbuster ending. Viewers will be fascinated to look back to see how the conspiracy & the plotting have set them up for the surprises. The music introducing the film is appropriately romantic, mysterious, & ominous, & repeats throughout for emphasis. The cinematography (Gabriel Beristain), even for somewhat trite scenes, is effective & adds to the suspense.

Unfortunately, the dialogue is filled with clichés & wooden remarks, a surprise considering Mamet's stage background. Unrealistic & ponderous remarks abound, always followed by a trenchant pause. Dell, remarking to Ross about his sister, says, "All we ever had was each other (pause)." A policeman tells Ross, "You'll be back (pause)." Another says, "Always do business as if the person you're doing business with is [betraying] you (pause)." The acting is generallly good, & Ed O'Neil has a nice cameo as an FBI investigator. Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife, plays Susan Ricci, a role which is not clearly developed or integrated & for which she seems a bit too mature. Despite the clumsy dialogue, this is an exciting film, great fun to watch for its unexpected twists & turns. Mary Whipple

A low-keyed spoof of the genre - By: Dennis Littrell, 31 Oct 2003
There's a little of the famous repetitive, stylized Mamet dialogue, especiallly in the beginning of this intriguing, tongue-in-cheek thriller, but mostly what director Mamet does is play it (almost) straight. The premise is a con, callled "the Spanish Prisoner" con. Steve Martin is the chief con artist, Jimmy Dell, while Campbell Scott is the victim, Joe Ross, whose proprietary business formula--displayed prominently throughout the movie as a red bound notebook--is the booty.

Most of us are familiar with this con from our e-mail where it typicallly takes the form of an African or the Middle Eastern princess seeking help from us to escape from a corrupt society or an oppressive husband. We are advised that she has many millions of dollars but can't get them out of the country without our help in the form of a few thousand bucks for various fees, etc. If we send the money we are assured that we will get a significant percentage of the millions.

Here the come-on includes a dark-haired beauty we see only in passing & in photos. Playing her foil is Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's talented wife) as Susan Ricci, a somewhat ditzy secretary for Joe's company. At the beginning everything is opaque & intriguing. It's not clear who is who, & who can be trusted & who can't. Indeed if this movie had a theme it would be "you can't trust anybody." The real worry, however, seems to be whether Joe will get paid for his work. Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara) keeps putting him off. And so it appears that we may be viewing another business & relationships satire for which Mamet is justly famous (e.g., Glengarry Glen Ross 1992), but after a bit we begin to see the sinister plot unfold.

The acting is good & Mamet sets up his plot twists with precision--although the resolutions of some of the twists are a bit strained; in fact, probability & logic, in keeping with the time-honored tenets of the genre, are sometimes just plain ignored. But what carries this unusual thriller is an underlying tone of irony. Steve Martin is perfectly cast because underneath his sly exterior there seems lurking a guy about to bust out laughing; & indeed the entire edifice is a crafty but covert spoof of Hollywood thrillers. It's almost as though Mamet set out to write & direct a standard thriller but just couldn't help himself. On the other hand he may have had the understated parody in mind alll the way, but just didn't want to tell anybody! Certainly Steve Martin was not fooled, but I do wonder about Campbell Scott who played his part with such single-minded intensity.

Anyway, there's a lot of clever dialogue, some of it cribbed ("Beware of enterprises requiring new clothes" is from Thoreau), & some interesting stage business (the tickets, the tennis book, the red-bound book, the camera/gun, the club certificate/request for passage to Venezuela, etc.). And trying to figure out who is up to what will keep you awake. But see this for Rebecca Pidgeon who, in her way, is as original as Mamet. Although her role here is not strictly comedic she reminds me a little of the Japanese comedic actress, Nobuko Miyamoto, widow of director Juzo Itami. She also reminds me of somebody who should be playing Saturday Night Live. Maybe she has.