Review of The Spanish Prisoner (1997) by Aditya Sai C — 01 Mar 2012
My first David Mamet flick. I was fixated to the film right at the first five minute block. The dialogue is deliberately nervous, for the lack of better word, but had me interested for its strange and mysterious nature. I soon adapted to what apparently is "Mamet speak" and started to travel with the protagonist. The movie is a classic con-mystery (with a MacGuffin, "The Process") and like the best in the genre, makes you mistrust and analyse every move of the characters very soon into the film. The plot is quite cliched but Mamet achieves to add an enigma to the way it unravels on-screen. The protagonist might seem annoyingly naive at times but nonetheless consistent with his gentlemanly traits. Like any other movie of this nature, the denouement has a few holes but as Ebert had put it excellently, "the end of a magic trick is never the most interesting part; the setup is more fun".
All in all a silky Hitchcock-esque flick; the smoothness and mystery assisted by Carter Burwell. A new style of dialogue (at least for me). Decent acting. Looking forward to more of Mamet.
P.S.: Do check out the quotes of the character "George Lang". Simply superb.
This review of The Spanish Prisoner (1997) was written by Aditya Sai C on 01 Mar 2012.
The Spanish Prisoner has generally received positive reviews.
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