Review of Spartan (2004) by Keith D — 22 Feb 2010

A slow burn conspiracy thriller superbly written and serviceably directed by David Mamet. Val Kilmer plays a sort of under the radar operative who must track down the kidnapped daughter of the U.S. President before she disappears into human trafficking obscurity. The movie throws its audience right into the thick of it, establishing no clear background of who's who or what's what. I can't think of any other film that gives shadowy government activities such an effective mystique. The Jason Bourne series and Fox's 24 have, in my opinion, failed in their attempts at capturing the gritty spy world because, for all their procedural detail and forced docudrama, the characters of both come off bland and dronish, as does the overall tone.

Spartan works far better because the players involved each have unique personalities. Kilmer, as the main protagonist, subverts just about every secret agent character that's come before him or since. He's dogged in his pursuit but offbeat in his methods and also strangely philosophical - even whimsical - in his cause, in a way unusual to the genre. So while the film is one part straight narrative thriller, it also achieves a kind of lyricism that favors the ethics of a "worker bee" against the morally vacant government hive. Much of this, of course, is due to Mamet's dialogue, which has never been more elusive. The whole movie, in fact, exists in an ambiguous state where the audience must interpret plot, counterplot and character motivations at almost every turn. It's not an action blowout per se but there are brief and intense moments of personal, physical reaction in which a character must do something quick and economical to survive.