The Spanish Prisoner

The Spanish Prisoner

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DVD Reviews of The Spanish Prisoner

DVD Review: Once Again, the Con is On
Summary: 5 Stars

In the meantime, Joe meets another man, Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), a wealthy businessman who ingratiates himself with Joe and in a subtle, passive-aggressive way inflames Joe's doubts about whether or not he will eventually get his due from Mr. Klein and the company. Joe has no reason to suspect that Jimmy wants anything from him; Jimmy apparently has enough irons in his own fires and he shows no real interest in whatever it is that Joe is involved in, business wise. He's merely a man who seems to know finance, and his counsel to Joe is nothing more than well-disposed advice to a friend with a mutual concern from someone with experience. Jimmy even goes so far as offering to have his lawyers look into Joe's affairs. Joe is not exactly naive, but he lacks experience in these matters. He trusts Jimmy, but he still wants to believe that Mr. Klein and the company will do right by him eventually. It's something of a conundrum, but very quickly things begin to happen that force Joe's hand and make it necessary for him to make some decisions. And it all comes down to the age old question: Who do you trust?

Mamet certainly knows how to weave a web, and what makes this one so effective is the fact that with a clever, detailed screenplay he never lets the audience in on anything more than what they have to know at any given point in time. Watching the story unfold, you never know any more than what Joe knows, which allows you to experience it all first hand, so to speak, through Joe. It all becomes very confusing very quickly, and it's supposed to be; it's what makes it so engrossing and very subtly gets you inching ever closer to the edge of your seat. You-- like Joe-- know that something is going on, but you never know exactly what or who's behind it. That it has something to do with the formula and Joe's access to it is obvious early on, but beyond that, anything goes. It's complex storytelling, and Mamet makes it even more mesmerizing with his unique touch of having his actors deliver their lines in a clipped, rhythmic manner, which combined with the plot makes this spellbinding cinema.

Campbell Scott is well cast as Joe Ross; he has the look and affects a manner completely compatible with his character. Anyone who has ever been in a position in which things are not quite clear will be able to identify with him, and Scott never lets the character get ahead of where he's supposed to be, as far as what he could possibly know and when, and it adds credibility to the fact that a con like this can be perpetrated at all. If Scott didn't do his job, it would be like having a crack in the dam, and the water would quickly come gushing out. But he does do his job, and it keeps the tension and the mystery in tact until the very end.

In a dramatic role, Steve Martin is effective playing somewhat against type in the role of Jimmy. He's convincing, and displays an aloofness that makes everything he does believable and, like Scott, he never tips his character's hand or does anything to reveal any more than he should. The winsome Rebecca Pidgeon gives an absolutely enticing performance as Susan Ricci, the "new girl" with the company who befriends Joe and gives him the encouragement he needs as he attempts to make some sense of all that is happening. Pidgeon has an extremely direct approach and employs Mamet's style of acting perfectly (few actors have been able to utilize that rhythm more effectively, in fact; Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy and Lindsay Crouse among them), and she has a quality that draws your attention, no matter who else may be in the scene with her. Arguably, it is her performance that defines the realism of Mamet's world.

The supporting cast includes Ricky Jay (George), Felicity Huffman (Pat McCune), Ed O'Neill (F.B.I. Team Leader), Paul Butler (Bookbinder) and J.J. Johnston (Doorman). With a cryptic title taken from one of the oldest con games on the books, "The Spanish Prisoner" is riveting drama that will keep you guessing until the very end. But be forewarned; like "Enemy of the State," this film has the ability to induce paranoia. It may make you take a closer look at your co-workers and neighbors, and if you don't already have a caller ID on your telephone, you'll probably want to get one, and soon. Such is the impact a film like this can have, and it's all a part of the magic of the movies.

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