The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara and Ricky Jay. The film tells the story of an elaborate confidence game, known as the Spanish Prisoner.
In 1999 the film was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay but was eventually edged out by Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight.[1]
Plot
Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) is a corporate engineer who has recently invented a very lucrative industrial process that has not yet been patented. While on a corporate retreat at an island resort, Joe befriends a wealthy stranger, Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), and one of the company's new secretaries, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon). Back home in America, Jimmy suggests that Joe's company might not give him fair compensation for his work. Susan also makes vague suggestions that Joe should not trust anyone.
Jimmy convinces Joe to use his legal counsel and bring the only copy of the process, but Joe learns that Jimmy is actually a confidence man who is attempting to steal his valuable work. Joe contacts an FBI agent he has been introduced to and is enlisted in a sting operation. To his horror, Joe learns that the person he has contacted is posing as an FBI agent but is actually part of Jimmy's con game. His process has been stolen, and he has been thoroughly swindled.
Joe attempts to explain what happened to his employer (Gazzara) and the police, but they do not believe him. The con has made it appear that he has sold his process to the Japanese. After being released on bail, he is also framed for the murder of a friend. On the run from the law, Joe reconnects with Susan, who believes his story and continues to express a romantic interest in him. Joe remembers that the hotel where the retreat took place maintains tapes of video surveillance, which would prove the existence of Jimmy. Susan guides his attempt to get to the hotel, until he ultimately discovers that she too is a part of this elaborate con.
Jimmy tracks Joe to a ferry, seemingly alone except for a couple of Japanese tourists. Jimmy reveals that the final step of this con is going to be Joe's death, made to appear as a suicide. Just before Jimmy can kill Joe, though, he is hit with a tranquilizer dart shot by one of the tourists. The "tourists" are in fact US Marshals who have been monitoring Jimmy's con since the beginning. Jimmy and Susan are taken off to jail.
Reception
The film has been generally well received by critics and fans alike. The aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes recorded an 89%[2] fresh rating for the film as of February 5, 2008 while, as of the same date, another aggregate review website, Metacritic, recorded a score of 70%[3], classified as Generally favorable reviews by the website's rating system. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 3½ stars out of 4 calling it "delightful" and comparing it to works of Alfred Hitchcock[4]. James Berardinelli of Reelviews.net, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, also compared Mamet's script to Hitchcock's works claiming that it "supplies us with a seemingly-endless series of twists and turns, only a fraction of which are predictable" as well as praising the actors by saying that "nearly every major performance is impeccable".[5]
Reviewer Paul Tatara, on the other hand, criticized the film for using well-worn plot mechanisms, "stiff characterizations and ridiculous line readings".[6]
Background information
A short story by Arthur Train, also entitled, The Spanish Prisoner, was published by The Cosmopolitan Magazine in March, 1910.[7]
The title of the film is a direct reference to the confidence trick of the same name, and in fact, the trick serves as the plot of the film.[8]
References
- ^ "1999 Edgar Award Nominees". http://www.mysterynet.com/edgars/1999/. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ The Spanish Prisoner at Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed February 5, 2008.
- ^ The Spanish Prisoner at Metacritic. Accessed February 5, 2008.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. The Spanish Prisoner, Chicago Sun-Times, April 24, 1998. Accessed February 5, 2008.
- ^ Berardinelli, James. [1], Reelviews.net, 1998. Accessed February 5, 2008.
- ^ Review: Stilted script traps actors in 'Spanish Prisoner', CNN, 1998-04-05
- ^ Train, Arthur. "The Spanish Prisoner." The Cosmopolitan Magazine New York, NY, vol 43, March 1910, pp. 465-474.
- ^ "The Spanish Prisoner". Archived v.31 #137. 10 April, 1998. http://mrbrownmovies.com/movierpt31.html#prisoner. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
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