The Spanish Prisoner (1998)
Director: David Mamet Cast: Campbell Scott, Rebecca Pidgeon, Steve Martin, Ben Gazzara, Ricky Jay, Felicity Huffman Screenplay: David Mamet Producers: Jean Doumanian Runtime: 112 min. US Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics Rated PG: mild violence, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner is about a bunch of people who are so smart and witty that it seems they are infallible in both speech and action. The film appears to take place in an alternate reality, in which the people described above are strictly governed by laws that keep them from going outside of Mamet's jigsaw plotting. It's not what I'd call a realistic film (the circumstances behind the events that unfold are about as unlikely as, say, the secrets revealed in Fincher's The Game), though I suppose it's not any less-realistic than any film of this genre. But Mamet's plot is so twisted, convoluted, and complex that just about the only thing I could do during and after was scrutinize it.
I don't mind too much. You see, I respect any film that brandishes intelligence as if it knows it's the only smart film out there. Mamet has created a situation that, I believe, could not happen outside a movie set, but the story is so ingenious and compelling that I can't help but admire it. The film is also entertaining, which helps a lot, and the acting is unique in that the actors clearly understand that they are playing people who can not and never will exist in the real world.
The main character is Joe Ross, played valiantly by the ever-solid Campbell Scott. The film begins with Joe on vacation in the Caribbean; he's there for a business meeting, along with his friend and co-worker, George Lang (Ricky Jay), and boss, Klein (Ben Gazzara). He also meets Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon), who turns out to be an underling in his company; and Jimmy Dell (Steven Martin), who seems to be just a rich guy spending time in the Caribbean.
I've given you the setup, but I don't know how to summarize the rest of the plot without giving away things that you shouldn't know. I went into the film with no prior knowledge of it, except from what I got out of the preview (which is very little -- some marketing execs should take a look at the the trailer for this film and examine how it works), and I found that the film was far different from what I expected. The twists are big an unpredictable, and placed in parts when you probably won't expect a twist to occur.
A film like this basically comes down to a couple things -- acting and plot. As I said, Mamet's story is compelling and ingeniously conceived. Writers for big-budget Hollywood mysteries should take lessons from this film, for this is the way to create a complex story that seems at first glance to be so much more simple than it is, and then fully explain every turn and make it as believable as possible. (The problem with writing a review of a film like this is that I have to be vague and ambiguous while explaining these qualities, but I'm sure you understand.)
The acting is interesting, so much that I often just wanted to see what strange things the characters might do. This is the kind of film where every character speaks in riddles, enunciates each word perfectly, and then predicts what the other characters are going to say. The most fascinating character is Susan, played by Pidgeon (an actress with whom I'm not familiar). She's an enticing woman, and has striking facial features. Her dialogue is the sharpest in the film, and her demeanor is unlike most female characters in most films. Also very interesting is Steve Martin (who, I should point out, does not go for one single joke throughout the film); he plays his character much like Pidgeon plays hers -- straight-faced and alarmingly calm.
The Spanish Prisoner is not really a film to be taken seriously. I doubt that Mamet had any deeper intentions than what are obvious here; it seems clear that he simply wanted to dazzle audiences with a plot so complex and (ahem) contrived that they walk out of the theaters smiling with disbelief. As I said, not even for a glimpse of a second is this a realistic picture. But it succeeds so entirely in being an unpredictable and compelling puzzle of a film that I can't imagine not liking it just for this reason.
*** out of **** (7/10, B)
Visit FILM PSYCHOSIS at http://www.pyramid.net/natesmovies
Nathaniel R. Atcheson
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews