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 The Spanish Prisoner Dir: David Mamet Stars: Steve Martin, Campell Scott, Susan Ricci David Mamet has pulled the ultimate con once again. For the first twenty or so minutes of The Spanish Prisoner, I thought I was watching an average movie. The characters ambled around an island in the Caribbean, trying to be interesting and mysterious without really doing anything. It seemed like he might have been exhausted after Wag the Dog, and decided to write and direct a tribute to quirky, mystery noir. Then, when itâs on the verge of full-fledged surrealism, it becomes one of the tightest, most entertaining thrillers in recent memory. The change is not subtle. The tension comes suddenly and out of nowhere when corporate tool Joe Ross (Campell Scott) finds out that Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), the guy he met on the island, may be more than he says he is. Ross has developed "The Process," a system guaranteed to make the company he works for a huge profit, and Dell gives him friendly advice about how to make sure he doesn't get screwed. Every random character trait and trivial piece of information scattered about the beginning of the film collapses in on Ross, and the race is on. Mamet has crafted wonderfully unpredictable script. Ross can trust no one, and the noose tightens with every step he takes. He's lost in a world where he seems to be the only one who doesnât know whatâs going on. The audience is kept completely off balance. Eventually, you stop trying to guess whatâs going on because Mamet plays on your assumptions and rips them apart. It's better to just hang on and let the film take you where it may. The actors' somewhat stiff and unnatural delivery in the beginning drops into context as the plot kicks into gear as well. Susan Ricci's performance as Rebecca Pidgeon, the new girl at the office, is especially fun to watch. She strikes a perfect balance between the mousy nature of Rebeccaâs character with her relentless pursuit of Ross. At one point, just happening to be in the neighborhood, she stops in at Ross' apartment to try to get to know him better. She has some of the best lines in the film, and her delivery is always right on target. Scott handles his awkward, upwardly mobile character well, and Steve Martin shows thereâs more to him than Sgt. Bilko and Father of the Bride 12, the Revenge. The two make great adversaries, playing off of each other - friends one minute and enemies the next. Martin fans would do well not to confuse Dell with his con man in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. There is a humor to his character at times, but Dell is a master, not a jester. He's distant and world-weary one moment, and calculating and brilliantly criminal the next. This is Martin at his best. The Spanish Prisoner is one hell of a ride - one hairpin turn after another. Mamet's ending is unpredictable yet inevitable, wrapping up a perfect mystery, and another perfect con. -Nick |
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