In Mamet's hands, top-level military operations are just another con game.
Spartan (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:129
Fresh:82
Rotten:47
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: A good cast and Mamet's mastery over the written language elevate an otherwise conventional thriller.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Robert Scott (VAL KILMER) is a career military officer working in a highly secretive special operations force. A man hardened by years of brutal service, he is respected by his peers and elders in... Robert Scott (VAL KILMER) is a career military officer working in a highly secretive special operations force. A man hardened by years of brutal service, he is respected by his peers and elders in the world of espionage. When Scott is recruited to find Laura Newton (KRISTEN BELL), the daughter of a high-ranking government official, he is paired with novice Curtis (DEREK LUKE), who becomes his protégé. Working with a special task force comprised of Presidential Advisors, the Secret Service, FBI and CIA, Scott and Derek stumble upon a white slavery ring, which may have some connection to Laura’s disappearance. As the story unfolds, the straightforward search-and-rescue mission becomes complicated by the political ambitions of those in high places – like Stoddard (WILLIAM H. MACY), a political operative who may know more than he’s telling about the clandestine circumstances surrounding Laura’s abduction. Scott and Curtis are at the brink of tracking Laura’s whereabouts when the mission comes to an abrupt conclusion, with the media issuing reports of the girl’s death. Scott returns to the quiet life of landowner in a rural location and awaits his next assignment in relative peace. But Curtis can’t rest. In his naiveté, he seeks out Scott to confide his belief that Laura is in fact alive. If she is, their continued unofficial investigation will put them as well as Laura at the center of a dangerous conspiracy that reaches the highest levels. Franchise Pictures presents Spartan, a political thriller written and directed by DAVID MAMET and starring VAL KILMER, DEREK LUKE, ED O’NEILL and WILLIAM H. MACY. Spartan is produced by ART LINSON, MOSHE DIAMANT and ELIE SAMAHA, and executive produced by FRANK HUBNER. The director of photography is JUAN RUIZ ANCHIA; the production designer is GEMMA JACKSON; and the editor BARBARA TULLIVER. Spartan will distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. -- © Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy, Tia Texada
Starring: Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy, Tia Texada, Kristen Bell, Ed O'Neill
Director: David Mamet
Director: David Mamet
Screenwriter: David Mamet
Producer: Moshe Diamant, Art Linson, Elie Samaha
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Spartan
The thing that makes David Mamet’s 'Spartan' so thrilling and exciting to watch is not the story...but the specific way that he has chosen to tell the story.
Will intrigue only those interested in the nooks and crannies of Mamet's career.
Mamet's sometimes confusing latest effort is a lot of gradual buildup to a payoff that falls short.
It's the familiar good-spy-vs.-bad-spy palaver served up in standard Mamet style.
This cloak-and-dagger thriller is far more gripping than its higher-profile cousins.
Rooted in thoughtful ideas and graced with irony, [Mamet's] stylized dialogue has the effect of focusing attention on what is being said.
There are some cool things about the flick, but in the end you're left with the notion that you could've spent 2 hours in a better way.
David Mamet's political thriller manages the difficult trick of being both logically meticulous and genuinely surprising.
Like many of the works he directs, Spartan does not feel like Mamet at the top of his game.
Spartan is a cautionary tale that will appeal to those who have had enough of the unreality concocted by Washington handlers and political power players.
Writer/director David Mamet ("Heist") has fashioned a twisty thriller, but his highly cynical story is at constant odds with his trademark repetitive Mamet-speak
... the mechanics are contrived (but Mamet's) crisp dialogue, and Kilmer's underplayed intensity, gives the film an engaging gravitas.
Spartan is studded with Mamet-style, macho one-liners, but its dialogue doesn't have the musical precision of Mamet's wordier scripts, such as Oleanna or Glengarry Glen Ross.
The action of Spartan is so choppy, the transitions so abrupt, and the pacing so deadeningly unvarying, the movie musters little suspense.
Imagine David Mamet rewriting his political satire Wag the Dog as a joke-free kidnap drama. Or don't imagine, just pony up for the glum spectacle of Spartan.
An entertaining foray into a world of spy guys, stakeouts and secret government machinations, Spartan teems with the kind of terse crypto-speak that is the playwright and filmmaker's stock-in-trade.
For all its narrative flair, Spartan ends up as just another chance for Mamet to show off his tennis-ace virtuosity with speech and atmosphere within the boundaries of a standardized movie genre.
Latest News for Spartan
October 26, 2006:
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