The Spanish Prisoner

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Han L Apr 1, 2019 9 times out of 10, when a film doesn't quite work, it has everything to do with the integrity of the story in play. Oddly enough, David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner" is in that 10% of movies that suffer tremendously at the hands of epidermal issues, despite featuring a solidly structured narrative. Generally known for his terse, vulgar, and realistic depictions of human conversation, Mamet adopts a surprisingly "PG-rated" approach to telling this story, using overly proper language and formalities to get his characters' points across. This hamstrings things, as the audience has a hard time believing that characters actually talk like this. The occasionally stilted acting layered onto these words doesn't help either, ultimately steering the audience into a "chicken/egg" type of debate with themselves on who's to blame for the artificiality of it all. Is that kind of dialogue simply impossible for any actor to speak believably? Or is the acting not skilled enough to deliver the perfectly reasonable lines? It's hard to say without reading the script, but I'm sure both are of relatively equal blame. Other than these shockingly cosmetic issues, though, it's a really fun ride. The plot is just a few narrative flourishes ahead of you, allowing you to feel as though you're in capable hands, but whilst throwing you the proverbial bone every now and then to make you feel intelligent. I'm sure this was calculated. Overall, it's a solid, yet audibly imperfect watch. See more

Anakin W Dec 11, 2018 By the by, whatever happened to paragraphs?

Poe P Dec 7, 2018 Wow. This film was so not worth watching. How is it possibly rated at 88%? I guess there's a reason I'd never heard of it.

Anakin S May 16, 2018 For a moment there I didn't trust even myself. Beside that, as a neo-noir: better than many, worse than some. As a crime-heist: better than many, worse then some. My mistake was to expect more, and I should stop to do so. See more

Theodore S Nov 21, 2017 On aurait tort de dire que The Spanish Prisoner est un film loupé. En effet, ce thriller très calme mais au script extrêmement malin et passionnant pourrait être une franche réussite, même, si la réalisation de David Mamet ne manquait cruellement pas autant de rythme (ce qui est tout de même primordial pour le suspense). Elle plombe totalement un film pourtant bien interprété, avec un Steve Martin machiavélique en contre-emploi qui marche parfaitement bien, Rebecca Pidgeon en femme fatale et Campbell Scott, aussi fade que le rôle le demande. Peut-être aurait-il fallu que David Mamet liasse son script à un autre réalisateur, mais en l'état, il est autant coupable qu'à remercier. See more

George S Jan 26, 2017 A brilliant movie about one of the oldest cons ever pulled, The Spanish Prisoner. Hustling until the end, this neo-noir movie is high on suspens and deception. Not a must see, but very good entertainment. See more

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The Spanish Prisoner

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