csro54 Easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen. In order to complete this thing, the makers/writer had to create the stupidest main character ever. He continually puts himself into situations, and performs acts, that require the suspension of belief and the necessity of the audience to reject common sense or any intelligence at all. It is not an intricate plot, or suspenseful if, in order to create that atmosphere, the main character is a dolt. But that is what happens in this movie. Nothing makes sense. The fact that the actors didn't roll their eyes every time the plot was ridiculous (which was every five minutes) is a credit to their acting abilities. The fact that they took part in this movie is not. The title of the movie should have been "You've Got To Be Kidding" or maybe "Stupid, stupid, stupid". Pick another movie - it almost has to be better than this one.

PWNYCNY Sometimes actors get type casted. One of those actors is Steve Martin. Known for his starring roles in comedies, in this movie he plays a completely different kind of part and plays it well, which is surprising as the movie is a crime drama. The movie itself is great. It has a clever plot, interesting characters, an engaging style, and strong finale. The bad guys are wonderful and their hapless victim, worthy of empathy. The movie is about greed, and false appearances. The bad guys seem good and the good guy is, well, we don't know; the audience is kept guessing. The entire cast is excellent. After watching this movie, one can leave feeling that they have been entertained and also shown what can happen when you let your guard down and trust others just because of the way they look. Yes, appearances can be deceiving and this movie shows how.

Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11) David Mamet can write. There's no two ways about it. He can write with such a beautiful and graceful cadence that any conversation, no matter how dreary or dull, can sound like a poetic work of art. In The Spanish Prisoner he shows off quite a bit, but hey, doesn't he have the right to do so? The Spanish Prisoner is about a naive inventor named Joseph Ross who has come up with a formula called "The Process" that is the key to global success for the company that employs him. But holding a secret this significant and this important has its drawbacks, and Ross quickly discovers that as an elaborate scheme unfolds before him in order to get ahold of "The Process." This scheme is full of twists, turns, and countless surprises, making for a film that is a lot of fun to watch play out, but be prepared to follow the many trails as the film spins out of control towards the end.Now, I said David Mamet is a great writer, and The Spanish Prisoner is an excellently written film, it's just... different. The writing style has a more poetic cadence to it rather than the raw and realistic style of some of his other scripts like Glenngary Glen Ross, or House of Games. The style of the dialouge and its delivery takes some getting used to and there always seem to be those moments where I thought to myself, I bet that line looked a lot better on paper. Regardless, the script is full of sharp wit and crisp cadence, and the depth of the story as a whole is very impressive.In many ways I do feel like this would have been a lot better as a book or even a stage play, as some of the film aspects didn't translate perfectly. There's nothing truly bad about this film and it really is a great film that is a joy to watch, there are just those odd moments. Those moments, for the most part, just come and go and you forget about them after a while, as you become more enticed by the bigger picture unfolding masterfully before your eyes. One thing I consistently couldn't forgive, though, was Rebecca Pidgeon. I feel like she's most of the reason I felt the delivery of certain lines that otherwise would have been ingenious, were delivered a little rocky. She is simply just not good in this film, which is unfortunate considering her character is very important to the film. In fact, every character is important in this film because it is all such an elaborate maze constructed so well by Mamet.The rest of the cast does a great job. Campbell Scott plays the protagonist and does a decent job overall. He has a lot of those so-so lines that don't quite make me cringe, but instead force me to just shrug them off and move on. The most notable performance would have to be Steve Martin playing a straight man role. To see the white haired buffoon who I loved so much in The Jerk go an entire film without delivering anything close to a joke or visual gag was very odd, but also impressive. Martin does an excellent job as the elusive con man, Jimmy Dell, and he has some of the best conversations of the whole film.The Spanish Prisoner really is a great film. It's a poetic work of art from Mr. Mamet, albeit a little pretentious. But it's nothing that really gets in the way. The only thing that really does deter from this films excellence would have to be Rebecca Pidgeon in her bland and forced acting, making some of the lines in this film not as great as they were when Mamet wrote them out on paper. Solving the twisted mystery of this film is so much fun, and everything is pulled off very well. It is definitely one of Mamet's better films and it is an excellent display of the talent he has as a screenwriter.

maybe730 All the positive reviews on here had me looking forward to seeing the twists and turns of The Spanish Prisoner. But instead I watched a movie where the only one who doesn't know what going to happen is the unlikeable main character. The plot isn't predictable from the outset but you'll see the twists coming 5 to 10 minutes before they get there. At times its interesting to see the smaller details of the set-up being put into motion but for me, that's not enough. None of these characters are likable. The dialogue is stale and reads like a play straining to be overly clever. The acting of Rebecca Pidgeon, who plays more or less the love interest, is wretched. Like Ed Woods movie wretched. And there are some questions/plot gaps regarding the level of involvement of the FBI (a minor complaint). Oh and this film ends with one of the weakest final lines I've ever heard.