SPANISH PRISONER, THE (director/writer: David Mamet; cinematographer: Gabriel Beristain; cast: Campbell Scott (Joe Ross), Rebecca Pidgeon (Susan Ricci), Steve Martin (Jimmy Dell), Ben Gazzara (Klein), Felicity Huffman (Pat McCune), Ricky Jay (George Lang), 1998)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A great labyrinth plot, ala Hitchcock, as Mamet delves into the greedy corporate world and its nasty secrets of espionage and bitter competition, and dangles this world in front of us, with all its perks and glitter and hopes for money being the big payoff for these corporate types. This nearly perfectly executed film, never fails to surprise and it accomplishes this by telling an old-fashioned story without one explicit sex scene or one single curse word, earning it a PG rating. The chink in the story's armor is, when you see how it ends, you realize it doesn't add up. The fun seems to be in the telling of the story and not in the story itself making sense.
This is a masterfully crafted thriller for the '90s and its new values and lingo. Steve Martin (that's right, pal) steals the film with his stellar performance mixing affable charm and dark mystery to hide his persona. The film's theme incorporates how corrupting the corporate world is for a boy scout like Joe Ross (Campbell), who invented 'The Process,' and just wants what is his, what he earned by the sweat of his brow. This something, 'The Process,' is what should put him figuratively on 'easy street.' 'The Process' is a McGuffin, a Hitchcock invented term, it is something to focus your attention on without knowing what it really is. Its explanation for the movie is that it has something to do with a formula that can control the global market. But what Mamet really is showing, is greed and how that poisonous desire makes the world spin. This is pointed out when the board members of a company want to know how much they will earn from investing in it and Joe writes the supposed astronomical figure on a blackboard, which the audience is not privileged to see but is supposed to be impressed by it through the response taken from watching the widening eyes of the board members.
Joe's boss, Klein (Gazzara), plays him along without telling him how much he will receive for his invention, which is making Joe quite antsy. While on a business trip to a fictitious Caribbean island that is supposed to be for the wealthy and Japanese honeymooners, Joe Ross meets a couple of folks on this island who will alter his life. One is a woman who says she is an F.B.I. agent (Felicity). The other is the mysterious rich man Jimmy Dell (Martin), who is seen departing from a boat and could have also come off a seaplane, when Joe takes a snapshot of him and the girl he is with. Dell offers to buy the camera for a $1,000, but when Joe just gives the camera to him and turns down the money, a friendship starts.
The story twists and turns, as Dell and Joe make plans to meet back in NYC, with the innocent hero dropping off a package to Dell's attractive sister, who Dell shows him a photo of to lure him into making sure they meet again. Joe is like those heroes in '50s noir films who find themselves alone, fighting both the system and the criminal world. After meeting with Dell and being duped into opening a Swiss bank account and being made a member of a phony diner club, and having his world turned upside down, as he gets involved in things that he doesn't understand, he is left confused and unsure of what viable choices he has left, as his pride is hurt that he has been taken for a sucker. He is being wrongly accused of a crime and not being able to find anyone to trust, except for his friend and company lawyer, Ricky (Lang). But he is found dead in his room, leaving Joe once again isolated and afraid. This pulls him very close to the audience, as they identify with him and his situation, even if it is hardly possible that they themselves would ever be in such a position.
This is the kind of hero that speaks realistically to what could happen to anyone in today's work place, especially to someone who doesn't play the corporate game, and who doesn't know that the first axiom in business for the dishonest types, is always do business as if someone is trying to screw you. So, when he reluctantly teams up with Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife), who is the new secretary in his firm, the audience can understand this weakness in him, which is viewed as the kindness he shows to others. This stance he has, as the outsider who made good in a world where the odds are stacked against him, but is now having the rug pulled out from under him, makes him begin to be uncertain of everything, as he begins to lose trust in people. And as he wants to be a believer in people, he is drawn to Ricci, seeing in her someone who has a crush on him, and even though he is not attracted to her, he needs to confide in someone in whom he can trust and she seems to be giving him sound advice.
There is no point in giving away the story; that is, except to mention that "The Spanish Prisoner" refers to a scam. Mamet tells us it is the oldest scam in the books. In this film, it has nothing to do with Spain or a prisoner.
This tale is more frightening than a hundred action films put together. It is eerie because the innocent hero asks, during one of his low points, "Why steal what others worked for?" Mamet offers a naive plea for the corrupting influences of big business to stop their venal behavior, as he wonders why those who play fair always get eaten up by those who don't.
It is a film that earnestly asks, `Why is it that nobody in this world is what they seem?'
And that is a question we can all relate to in one way or another, as we are led along the same blind alleys Joe is, seeing the same things he sees, wondering if this Kafkaesque nightmare has a light at the end of the tunnel.
Has Mamet really ended the film by tying up all the loose ends and leaving us with the kind of ending we as an audience wanted?
And the answer is... Maybe. This is a film for people who like to use their noodle and are able to appreciate films that can't be tidied up so easily. Even the so-called tidy ending here might not be as tidy as it first appears, if you look carefully you will spot some loose ends.
REVIEWED ON 8/2/98 GRADE: B
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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