Spartan is not Mamet's best work
Written: Aug 25 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Huge cast of great actors
Cons: The whole thing needed to be just a little more interesting
The Bottom Line: If you want to see a good Mamet movie, get The Heist or The Spanish Prisoner.
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| phungus's Full Review: Spartan |
Spartan stars Val Kilmer and was written and directed by David Mamet. With credentials like that, you’d think more people would know about this movie. I remember seeing the poster in the local theater, but it never came to the screen. Spartan seemed to go almost directly to the video store shelves. Val Kilmer does not have the star power he once did, but Mamet’s name should have at least carried this movie somewhere other than to the local rental store. After watching this movie, I now understand why it never got any buzz.
The title of this movie is explained when one character tells of a legend where a Spartan king was asked to send a neighboring king some reinforcements. The Spartan king just sent one man, thus establishing the concept of one man for one job.
Val Kilmer stars as a kind of tactical specialist who will do anything to accomplish a mission – he’s the government’s Spartan. In the opening scene, he is wrapping up a military training session when a call from the Secret Service leads him to the kidnapping investigation of a very important politician’s daughter. The movie never actually reveals whose daughter she is, but it’s quite obvious she’s very important. As the story progresses, we learn that her parents are more concerned about their political careers than their own daughter, so this explains why Mamet chose not to reveal their position in government. In a way, I think this takes away from the movie.
As Kilmer’s investigation continues, he learns that the girl has been kidnapped and sold into some kind of underground prostitution ring in Israel where she will be kept drugged until the men wear her out. Before he has a chance to get over there, two bodies are found floating in the ocean and one is identified as the girl and the other is a man with whom the authorities had suspected she was having an affair. This happens right in the middle of the movie so you know there is more to the story. However, with the bodies being discovered, Kilmer’s mission is considered finished. The problem is that they had begun to uncover a human slavery ring but chose not to pursue it since it did not pertain to the mission at hand. When one of Kilmer’s trainees joins the team, her persuades him to further investigate, and from then on the plot gets a lot more complicated.
Val Kilmer does an excellent acting job for a role that seems like it was written for Russell Crowe. The supporting cast consists mainly of familiar faces, including some high caliber actors such as William H. Macy. The rest of the cast is so large that you can’t help but feel like they are all underused, especially when Macy’s character barely even speaks until the last scene.
David Mamet’s script and direction all seems half-hearted, at best. He has done so much better in the past and this film seems sort of cheap and thrown together. It obviously wasn’t made on a very big budget and many of the sets seem very bland. I wouldn’t call Spartan boring because it does give just enough to keep you interested until the end.
Spartan does have some interesting moments. My favorite line was, “Don’t whisper. It draws heat.” Two men were discussing a fugitive in a public place and instead of whispering they just spoke out loud. I thought it was kind of neat because it does make sense not to whisper around other people.
If you like thrillers based around espionage and political intrigue, you may want to watch this. It isn’t that great of a movie, but I’ve sure seen a lot worse.
Recommended:
No
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