THE SPANISH PRISONER
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: David Mamet returns writing and
directing another of his clever thrillers in the
vein of HOUSE OF GAMES. Unfortunately, this one
has logic failing in several crucial places. The
viewer left with several how-did-they-knows and
but-that-wouldn't-work-becauses. There are some
nice superficial surprises, but the script should
have been tighter. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), high +1
(-4 to +4)
New York Critics: 15 positive, 1 negative, 2 mixed
In David Mamet's THE SPANISH PRISONER, Campbell Scott stars as mathematical genius Joe Ross who has developed some unspecified industrial process that will allow whatever company has it to rule some very lucrative market. He is presenting his process and his estimate of its probable value at a special meeting with his company's executives. The setting for this meeting is a luxurious Caribbean island. As part of his reward he is told to enjoy the resources of the island for a couple of days at his company's expense. While there he strikes up a friendship with Susan Ricci (played by Rebecca Pidgeon), a company secretary who shared his plane to the island. Photographing her he also accidentally photographs Jimmy Dell (played by Steve Martin), a well-to-do man of mystery. Dell has the odd talent of being irritating one moment and ingratiating the next. Jimmy asks Joe to deliver a package to his sister on his return and the twisty plot is off and rolling.
This is a fun film, one that ties up the viewer in many mysteries of who is doing what to whom. Just what is going on is different depending on who really is Joe's friend and who is only pretending to be. This could be a clever story with a little rewriting to the script, but it is not a script whose plot bears too close scrutiny. There are holes and there are some very unlikely assumptions on the part of the plotters in this film. If one does not absolutely insist on a plot credibility of story, the film is a reasonably tangled puzzle.
Scott and Pidgeon are sufficient in the main roles, but neither has a lot of screen charisma. As is often the case, the interesting characters in a Mamet film are in the peripheral roles. Steve Martin is a surprisingly good actor given that he started his career as a counter-culture stand-up comedian and his film career as the star of the dim-witted THE JERK. He has long since proven that he can do much better than that. Here he has the suavity of a Cary Grant and tremendous personal magnetism. He is magnetic even when he says things like "Always do business as if the person you're doing business with is trying to screw you, because he probably is. And if he's not, you can be pleasantly surprised." The rest of the cast is just fine. It is particularly good to see Ricky Jay, sleight-of-hand artist and sometime actor. He is extremely natural on the screen and is almost the trademark of a David Mamet film. Speaking of Mamet trademarks, with David Mamet directing there is nearly always a few scenes in which the actors deliver their lines in a total deadpan in an extremely affected style. I am not sure why Mamet does this, but you can almost always find a few such scenes.
While none of the plot twists should be entirely unexpected for the viewer, this is as much a game as a film to see and to pick apart. I would give it a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale, and a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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