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Yar, you be here: The Spanish Prisoner > Customer Reviews The Spanish Prisoner Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 21 Reviews)Pretty darn clever
Complex acting--each character has his and her own "tell"--and tight story. If you liked the mind games of Usual Suspect, you'll like this. That said: I don't know whether I've seen way too many movies, read too much on confidence games, or (least likely) too smart for my own good, but I was at least one step ahead of the story pretty much until the very end. The Set-Up and the....
Dammit man, take a breath and recognize they want the process...at any cost! I saw this when it came out and liked it, and watched it again recently and, though I love Mamet, his point of view, language, characters, and the atmosphere he creates, this film reminded me of Dancer in the Dark and watching a character who needs too much of a kick in the ass to like or sympathize with. Campbell Scott is an actor I admire, and he is good in this and works as the patsy protagonist. But his blandness is too easy and his search for respect and manliness is a dynamic that holds up the film. Props to Steve Martin for taking on such a different style and character, his pattern of lame remakes and sequels shades his deeper nature, here captured and-Mamet has got to have something to do with this!-executed well. But Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife-my knowing this probably hurts the film-nails the annoying, obvious, apparent, "my god she's something other than she appears to be," secretary/assistant. She's so completely obvious...it distracts. Overall, I like the film, but I think Mamet is better at the set-up than the delivery, because the film, like Spartan, Heist, House of Games, State and Main, etc. excel in character, language and circumstance. But ultimately, if my feeling about The Spanish Prisoner is to be wary of rich mysterious types when you've invented a sure-fire cash cow, and ardent gabby type women who are interested in you to an obvious degree, then... Cruising for a Fall
The last minute plot-twist has the mildly jejune quality that is a hallmark of the B+ movie. But alas, there is more, and for me the movie does not make the B+ mark. That twist also renders the premises of the movie both highly improbable and sufficiently illogical to seriously undermine the verisimilitude on which the thereto carefully constructed suspense rests. The movie could have been nearly as emotionally compelling as -- if understandably less epic narratively than -- "The Godfather". And in fact it sort of is for 90% of the viewing. Then close to the very end it becomes a sort of flawed parlor game of the mind. Suspended disbelief comes crashing down. I don't think I have ever left a movie theater feeling so let down.
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