Spartan (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

David Mamet

Writer (WGA):

David Mamet (written by)

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

She's missing.

Plot:

The investigation into a kidnapping of the daughter of a high-ranking US government official.

Plot Keywords:

Special Ops | Dubai | Abductor | Harvard | Kidnapping

Cast

Tia Texada	...	Jackie Black
Derek Luke	...	Curtis
Val Kilmer	...	Scott
Jeremie Campbell	...	Cadre Candidate
Bob Jennings	...	Grace's Aide
Lionel Mark Smith	...	Colonel Blane
Johnny Messner	...	Grace
Chris LaCentra	...	Cpl. Sattler (as Chris J. Lacentra)
Renato Magno	...	Grossler
Mark FitzGerald	...	Training Facility Guard
Tony Mamet	...	Parker
Clark Gregg	...	Miller
Ron Butler	...	Headquarters Agent
Steven Culp	...	Gaines (as Stephen Culp)
Vincent Guastaferro	...	Naylor

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

USA:106 min | UK:102 min (DVD)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Russian | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:R (certificate #40304) | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Italy:T | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

ApolloMedia

Trivia:

David Mamet incorporated a number of real life experiences from various U.S. special forces members for the production, including Eric Haney who had served in highly classified operations during his twenty-year military career. Haney's experience included front-line combat units as a combat infantryman, as an Army Ranger, and as a founding operator within the elite Delta Force under Colonel Charlie Beckwith. These experiences helped Haney effectively serve as a technical advisor, weapons expert, and actor's mentor to Val Kilmer, ensuring that Kilmer reflected an accurate depiction of a special forces operative in every capacity. Haney retired as a highly decorated Sergeant Major, and his documented experience also includes security surveys, metro SWAT team arms training, oil company guard force management, executive protection, and the recovery of American children kidnapped and taken overseas.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the beach house scene, Scott puts the gun in his left hand (behind his back) when he speaks to the #1 man that just entered the house. He then shots him twice with the gun, but it in his right hand.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Scott: You had your whole life to prepare for this moment. Why aren't you ready?

Movie Connections:

References The Salton Sea (2002)

Excellent and intelligent. Not for Bruckheimer fans.

If you go by the plot, or by the casting (Val Kilmer's done his share of stupid actioners), you might well go into this expecting guns, explosions, and improbably ninja-esquire super-agents who parachute around and kill things with their teeth.

But this is Mamet, so what you get instead is a sort of weird emotional flatland for almost two hours of film, with Kilmer doing an excellent (Val KILMER? Whoa!) job of portraying what top-level soldier/drones are like: emotionally neutral, physically economical, and not always all that bright.

If you're looking for somebody hoisting a bazooka and wisecracking before he blows up the compound and saves the girl in the bikini while smashing the drug smuggling ring, this ain't your film, friend. It's very well written and extremely well acted, but also quiet, murky, and deliberately understated.

Don't expect whiz-bang excitement or crackerjack dialogue. If you can shelve that and put yourself in the frame of mind of a Kurosawa samurai movie, where contemplation and futility take equal time with action and excitement, you'll find this movie a lot more rewarding.