Spartan

This is a competent political thriller written and directed by the talented David Mamet with a strong central performance from Val Kilmer as an American secret agent with a direct and brutal style of operation. From the opening sequence of a woman running through woods (like "Silence Of The Lambs"), this is a taut tale which never lets up the pace, with strong violence and a number of plot twists along a road with plenty of blood and betrayal, and the music by Mark Isham adds real atmosphere. But there are no great action sequences or memorable lines of dialogue to lift the film to a higher level. Nevertheless the movie deserves a higher profile that it is receiving so far.

This one better than most of David Mamet's later films and this is just as good as House of Games and Homicide. This movie stars Val Kilmer as a government agent who is called in to help with the search of the president's missing daughter. Val is willing to do just about anything to get her back and the less you know about the plot, the better you're off. I'm surprised that i never even heard of this movie until it came in theaters. I saw no previews for it or any ads anywhere. The first place i heard about was when Val Kilmer was on The Daily Show to promote the movie. I only went to go see it was that it was written and directed by David Mamet. It would be a good thing to not read any reviews before you see it.

If you go by the plot, or by the casting (Val Kilmer's done his share of stupid actioners), you might well go into this expecting guns, explosions, and improbably ninja-esquire super-agents who parachute around and kill things with their teeth.

But this is Mamet, so what you get instead is a sort of weird emotional flatland for almost two hours of film, with Kilmer doing an excellent (Val KILMER? Whoa!) job of portraying what top-level soldier/drones are like: emotionally neutral, physically economical, and not always all that bright.

If you're looking for somebody hoisting a bazooka and wisecracking before he blows up the compound and saves the girl in the bikini while smashing the drug smuggling ring, this ain't your film, friend. It's very well written and extremely well acted, but also quiet, murky, and deliberately understated.

Don't expect whiz-bang excitement or crackerjack dialogue. If you can shelve that and put yourself in the frame of mind of a Kurosawa samurai movie, where contemplation and futility take equal time with action and excitement, you'll find this movie a lot more rewarding.

Oh boy, where to start on this confusing convoluted thriller from ace screenwriter and director Mamet. Val Kilmer does his best to add some real spark to a story about the apparent accidental kidnapping of the President's daughter. Kilmer is a super duper special forces agent who will do anything, and I mean anything to succeed at his assignment. Accidental I say, because it turns out she was kidnapped by Middle Eastern white slave trade marketers who deals with young blonds, after a security lapse that left the President's daughter vulnerable in a sleazy Boston club. Now keep in mind, the slave traders do not know who she is, at least that's how the story goes. But wait a minute, just after we learn all of this and the evidence is pointing in that direction, a HUGE plot twist develops that puts all of that to bed. Or does it??? I'll leave the spoilers out because what I've told you is just the beginning of the movie. David Mamet is a king of twisting confusing sometimes plots, being borderline ridiculous, and this one is no exception. But Val Kilmer saves the day as he does with a lot of movies, and his performance alone is worth seeing this Mamet thriller. I'm a huge Kilmer fan and it's always a joy to see him perform, no matter how far out the role. And this IS a pretty far out role. The supporting cast includes such standouts as William Macy (one of his worst roles ever), Derek Luke as Kilmer's novice partner, cameo-like appearance by Ed O'Neill, Kristen Bell as the kidnap victim. Despite its shortcomings, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it for thrillers that have that giant leap of logic. The ending is pretty exciting, again with logic totally turned off, but what the hell, there's a lot of action, several twists and turns and I'll take that anytime over the mindless fluff that is coming out of Hollywood lately.

'Spartan' may be the best spy movie ever made by a practicing playwright/director. Director and frequent screen writer David Mamet ('House of Games,' 'State and Main,' 'Spanish Prisoner,' 'Heist,') has crafted a thriller peppered with his stylized, epigrammatic dialogue that takes on the presidency and world corruption in equal parts of vitriol and savvy. The Pulitzer Prize winner of 'Glengarry Glen Ross' shows he can keep suspense without sacrificing intelligence.

When special ops officer Scott (Val Kilmer, 'Wonderland') describes himself as no 'planner. I ain't a thinker. I never wanted to be,' I knew I was in Mamet territory, where the speeches are street-poetic, terse, and redolent of subtext. Scott eventually has to be more than just an obedient Spartan, as he moves to the conscientious soldier who begins to see much more than just the kidnapping of the president's daughter.

Mamet lets us see that this plot is much more than a potboiler about the lost daughter of a lascivious, ruthless president, for it comments on the hidden forces behind the electoral process. Typical of Mamet, there is much more than what the eye thinks it sees. In fact, I must remind myself to have students write essays about appearance and reality in Mamet's films.

Kilmer is once more a surprise--he is one of our most underrated film actors. When he played an FBI agent in 'Thunderheart,' I was impressed by his low-key interpretation of a Native American in hiding. I am slowly becoming a fan by shedding my feelings that after successfully playing Jim Morrison, he could never successfully play anyone else. As Scott he too must shed his old ways from being a 'worker bee' to being an operative affecting world politics by following his instincts rather than his orders.

Some might claim Mamet loads his dramatic dice with contrived plot twists. I claim he develops his characters with such precision and care that his plots exemplify 'distributed exposition,' where each turn is another piece of the character puzzle.

Denys Arcand must be credited for bathing me in languid prose in 'Barbarian Invasion.' David Mamet must be credited for reinvigorating me with muscular prose. Both writers outstrip David Koepp's lame attempt to reveal a writer in heat in 'Secret Window,' starring Johnny Depp as a Stephen King surrogate.

The title 'Spartan' has several possible meanings, including the Battle of Thermopylae allusion in the film. However, the one I like best is the reference to Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus, who said, 'Those who are trained and disciplined in the proper discipline can determine what will best serve the occasion.' Mamet best serves this occasion with a superior thriller about a man of discipline serving his country in spite of itself.