The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

David Mamet

Writer (WGA):

David Mamet (written by)

Release Date:

3 April 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Can you really trust anyone?

Plot:

An employee of a corporation with a lucrative secret process is tempted to betray it. But there's more to it than that.

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Innocence | Bonus | Secret | Murder

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Campbell Scott	...	Joseph A. 'Joe' Ross
Steve Martin	...	Julian 'Jimmy' Dell
Rebecca Pidgeon	...	Susan Ricci
Ben Gazzara	...	Mr. Klein
Ricky Jay	...	George Lang
Felicity Huffman	...	Pat McCune
Richard L. Friedman	...	Businessman
Jerry Graff	...	Businessman
G. Roy Levin	...	Businessman
Hilary Hinckle	...	Resort Concierge
David Pittu	...	Resort Manager
Christopher Kaldor	...	Dell's Bodyguard
Michael Robinson	...	Security Person
Olivia Tecosky	...	Flight Attendant
Charlotte Potok	...	Bookstore Woman

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements including tension, some violent images and brief language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #35283) | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jasmine Productions Inc.

Trivia:

The main character's name is Joseph, and he invents a "process." In Kafka's "Der Prozess" (English title: The Trial), the main character, Joseph, is also framed, and nothing is what it seems.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the scene outside the luxurious cars garage, where Dell is once more apologizing to Ross, a microphone is fully visible over Ross's head. It's partially visible in other scenes as well (yacht scene, Ross's flat when talking to Susan etc.)

Quotes:

George Lang: Worry is like interest paid in advance on a debt that never comes due.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: High Top Fade Out (#4.7)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

Runs rings around `The Usual Suspects'

You heard me. Even if you prefer, say, Kevin Spacey's performance in `The Usual Suspects' to Campbell Scott's here (to each his own), at least this is a film that plays fair with us. We begin at what is, from the protagonist's point of view, the beginning of the tale; things happen that are interesting in their own right and not simply because we know that there's meant to be a mystery lurking somewhere; we are given information as we go along; and later revelations actually explain earlier puzzles. Mamet doesn't force us through a maze. Rather, he lets us watch someone else walk through the maze, and it's a pleasure.

I'm determined not to spoil this pleasure, so I'm unable to say anything at all, really, about what the movie's about. I can't even tell you to what the title refers. I can't even tell you whether it refers to something peripheral or central. I'd better watch my mouth. As the slogan of a poster in the film says, in letters screaming above a drawing of a torpedoed battleship, `Somebody talked.' Not me.

All of the cast turn in good performances - that's right, all of them. I'm tired of remarks about how Rebecca Pidgeon got her role because she's the director's wife. It could well be true, and it could also be true (for all I know) that she's an actress of minor abilities, but her abilities are more than sufficient to make us believe in the character she plays here. How, exactly, is she so very different from Campbell Scott, or from Steve Martin, who, everyone will surely concede, gave the performance of his life? This just isn't the kind of story suited to emoting-while-pretending-not-to acting. All of the characters must dissemble in front of at least one other of the characters (THAT gives nothing away, trust me), and all of them are just a little bit unsettling.

I'll close by putting in a word for Carter Burwell's score. The music consists of a single labyrinthine tune, which twists about until we THINK we've caught it, and then stops: it provides a perfect thumb-nail sketch of the film as a whole. Also like the film as a whole, it's simply fun. Unlike so many directors Mamet doesn't act as if he's working in a disreputable genre, in which it's somehow bad form to allow the audience to have too good a time.