Spartan Review
by Andy Keast (arthistoryguy AT aol DOT com)March 17th, 2004
Spartan (2004): ***1/2 out of ****
Written and directed by David Mamet. Starring Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, Lionel Smith, Ed O'Neill, Tia Texada, Kristen Bell and William H. Macy.
by Andy Keast
"Spartan" will likely end up one of my favorite entertainments of this year. It has a plot that somehow encompasses kidnapping, assassination, conspiracy, the Secret Service, the FBI, the CIA and even familial conflict and betrayal. Granted, a number of things take place that do not make sense, and an important
plot point contains a *deus ex machina,* but because it is written and directed
by the great playwright David Mamet, mystery and trickery cloud everything. You imagine an invisible government machinery at work, and the film only implies it, so it is best viewed in the moment.
The President's daughter disappears. Scott (Val Kilmer) is a government agent assigned to the case with a limited number of hours before word gets out, or a story will need to be made up. The movie never makes clear Scott's position or
ranking, though it does establish the character's years of experience with espionage and the like. He conscripts Curtis (Derek Luke), who is eager but new to the spy game. The girl was last seen with a professor on a boat off of Martha's Vineyard, though other sources indicate that she may have been taken away by Yemen immigrants involved in girl trafficking. There is also surveillance, "shadowing" and trickery that would make the agents of "Mission: Impossible" proud.
This sounds like bestselling potboiler crap one uses to kill time on the subway
ride to work, but Mamet has thrown out all the false urgencies of the genre and
begun from scratch. There *is* murder and international intrigue, but it all grows out of the story's deadly logic. It's not one of those slick studio techno-thrillers that are based on Tom Clancy novels, but more in the vein of a
John Le Carre story, where characters are defined by their personalities and not their politics or national allegiances. You don't play the guessing game of "who the real bad guy is." There are no contrivances and nothing exists for
it's own sake.
One might not think that Val Kilmer would be able to handle Mamet dialogue, but
he does -perfectly. There is a sequence where a suspect's beach house is infiltrated, and Kilmer is taken by surprise by a man with a gun. The way this
sequence is written, directed and edited is kind of brilliant; a combination of
quick thinking, perfect timing and luck. It takes what could have been another
stupid showdown and spins it on it's head. Kilmer is just as convincing a "Mamet actor" as Joe Mantegna. Mamet regulars Lionel Smith and William H. Macy
also make appearances. Macy's character is particularly tricky (and I'm not giving anything away by saying that) in the way he always tells the truth in order to hide it.
Mamet's directing style had me watching intently, careful not to miss something. He's much more confident in this film then with "The Spanish Prisoner" (which I love) or "Heist" (which I do not love), using the journalistic style forged by directors Alan Pakula and Constanin Costa-Gavras.
His writing style is, admittedly, an acquired taste: his characters converse in
a sort of shorthand business-speak for con men and killers, and you either enjoy it or you don't. I for one took joy:
"…a reflection in every city, a sound in every forest."
"What about the desert?"
"You don't wanna go in the desert."
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