The Spanish Prisoner

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.

Basically a story about the theft of a "process", which we may here define as a "MacGuffin", around which an elaborate industrial con game is organized.

In any game (an activity with rules, more than one participant, and a recognizable outcome) there are only three elements: (1) physical skill (you outdrive the cars pursuing you), (2) chance (you jump off the roof and an awning breaks your fall), and/or (3) strategy (you outwit your opponent). Unlike most action movies, Mamet's stories are almost entirely about strategy.

That might make it sound like rather less than it is. Mamet seems to love puzzles -- and puzzles within puzzles -- and the lengths people will go to manipulate one another and, man, is this a prize-winning example of his obsession. As in "House of Game" we have a big con that goes a little astray and winds up not only with the theft of a priceless invention but murder as well.

I realize "Glengarry Glenross" is probably Mamet's most highly esteemed work but I think "House of Games" and "The Spanish Prisoner" are more engrossing because more things HAPPEN. Mamet's dialog always involves a lot of byplay, repetition, non sequiturs, and general ellipsis, but the elegant stylization isn't worth much if it doesn't go anywhere. Here the plot moves from the Caribbean to New York to Boston and with each step the conundrum becomes more difficult to figure out.

Of course the plot is an implausible one because it depends on the heavies being able to predict precisely the moves of the mark, down to small basically unforeseeable details, such as his snooping in a secretary's desk and stealing a souvenir FBI card out of her scrapbook. But it hardly matters because we're swept along so fluidly in the mystery that we don't really question these events. The viewer, by the way, is kept as much in the dark as Scott Campbell, the protagonist.

The performances are all quite apt. Scott Campbell might be a terrific inventor but he's kind of a dim bulb in other respects. He's the kind of highly conventional Schlub that wouldn't DREAM that anyone, let alone an entire organization, would lie with comfort and such powerful effect. You have to wonder what his voting record looks like.

Rebecca Pigeon is, I think, an actress who never got the kind of attention she deserves. She's beautiful in an unconventional, petite, brachycephalic, angular way and her locutions and expressions always seem to suggest she may know more about what's going on inside your head than you do yourself. She delivers Mamet's stylized speeches efficiently but in other films has demonstrated considerable range. "You never know who a person really is," she says. Something else. She may be treacherous, and he may be wary of an office romance, but they seem genuinely attracted to one another. Near the end, when Scott finally kisses her, she draws back and says, "Crikees!", as if amazed and tickled. This is a set up for a final scene when she is hustled into the police van. She's supposed to break away from the cops holding her, run to Scott, throw her arms around him, kiss him fiercely, and confess that her feelings had changed to true love. But no! Thank heaven she has no remorse at all and leaves him with a wisecrack and a sardonic smile. Mamet is nobody's fool.

I ought to mention the score. It's mysterious and melancholic. The main theme is built around a handful of descending notes and the orchestration is simple but a little odd -- bass, piano, quiet woodwinds, and chimes. It is so weird and catchy that it could just about stand on its own.

Repeat viewings don't spoil the polish, even though the viewer knows the solution to the mystery. It's an original commercial product and it's enjoyable.

Covid days, and this is as comforting as movies get. I'm ready to declare this Mamet's best picture. I love everything here, from the weirdly old-timey spin on Mamet's hyper-stylized dialogue ("Dog my cats, indeed.") to how straight-and-narrow, square-jawed Campbell Scott is-characters here often refer to him as a boy scout-and the way this unfolds into a larger and larger plot that envelops everything. Mamet is having fun here with the plot mechanics that are just as preciously constructed as a Wes Anderson set. And the performances: Scott is compelling as Hitchcockian leading man, but it's the supporting cast that really makes this work. Steve Martin plays serious with charm, and then good grief is Rebecca Pidgeon operating on another level here-it's incredible, oddly-pitched sometimes and I can't be the only one who finds her alluring, right? An all-timer, innit?

What is so clever about this movie?

First: The dialogue is so wonderfully quirky and packed full of nuances. It was a delight to wait for the next round of words in each scene. The character played by Rebecca Pidgeon offered the best delivery of all the actors. Her vocal cadences were sheer fun to experience.

Second: It perfectly paced right down to the wonderfully offbeat and unexpected ending. It is NOT a slow moving film. Even if the drama unfolds methodically:

**WHAT is wrong with audiences today? WHY must every movie go faster than the Can-Can scene in "Moulin Rouge"? I get ill when I read yet another review which reveals the impatience and lack of concentration skills of the viewer. You want slow pace? Try Theo Angelopoulos!

Third: The cast is perfect for every role. Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Felicity Huffman, Ben Gazzara and Ricky Jay. Each of them bring a special character to each performance.

Fourth: Movies like this, that don't feed you every morsel of the plot expectation in the first 15 minutes are a welcome breath of fresh air every time they are released.

Congratulations on a most memorable movie to Mamet and company.

Steve Martin in a serious role in a Mamet film is reason enough to see "The Spanish Prisoner", which I believe gets its name from a type of sucker scam of the same name. And that's what this film is about. A young professional invents "the process" which is very valuable to his company but he is worried he will not get compensated well enough. This seed of doubt, which others around him recognize, sets into motion a whole series of secrets and deceptions. The dialog is snappy as in all Mamet writing, and you either really like the style a lot, or you don't. I really like it. The various twists get a bit hard to follow, and it is the kind of movie you have to see at least twice for full benefit. It is not a great film, but a worthy one.

Beside Steve martin in his serious role, which he pulls off very well, the film also has Ben Gazzara and Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon who is very good in one of the key roles in this film.