Spartan (film; 2004)

[ movie film ]

Spartan ( 2004)
My rating: 5 {++!!}

This is one of the best political thrillers to rank along side The Manchurian Candidate and Day of the Jackal (the originals, not the remakes).

When David Mamet gets his steam up there are few writers who can best him. His dialog is often stylized, crisp and dazzling - there is never a wasted word in a Mamet script. And he's an awesome director as well.

While the story unfolds in seemingly predictable ways, Mamet never telegraphs his plot, making this a fresh variation on a standard theme. The beginning is great as you are not certain why this young girl, who has disappeared, deserves such attention from government black ops personalities, although your best guess turns out to be true.

Mamet creates a suspenseful rescue procedural with nice twists and turns, especially when the twists take you into a perverse conspiracy that would abandon the girl to her captors for political gain. At which point our special forces, black ops hero has to decide to do what's right and work against his immediate superiors who have been duped by THEIR superiors.

This is one of Val Kilmer's best roles, creating a taciturn black ops agent who can't afford to care about anyone, even those he's sent to rescue. He pays a high personal price for his skills and missions.

I certainly hope Mamet returns to this character, as he leaves the hero "out in the cold", setting up another opportunity for the agent to engage in another story - and you WANT to see another story with this hero.

Pay attention to this film, it will grab you and reward you for your time. I went back to certain scenes on the DVD to make sure I'd seen the clues, which was as much fun as watching it whole.

Mamet demonstrates that a great, suspenseful film can be made on a modest buget, getting great performances from all his talent, lead and supporting cast.

The only missing "goodie" from the DVD is NO commentary track by Mamet; and you want to hear Mamet tell you about writing and making this film. The audio commentary track is by Kilmer, and amazingly not that interesting.

Do NOT miss this one !!!

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