Spartan
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: March 12, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
18
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
When he's good, Mr. Mamet is very good indeed, and Spartan stands with the best work he's done. It's fast-moving, unpredictable, and as tautly, tightly wound as thrillers get. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The patter is always fascinating, and at right angles to the action. [Mamet]'s like a magician who gets you all involved in his story about the King, the Queen and the Jack, while the whole point is that there's a rabbit in your pocket. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Until its final stumble, this intelligence thriller, starring Val Kilmer, is charged with brilliance. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Is Spartan a perfect, or even a great, movie? Probably not. But in its prickly irascibility and deeply unsettling intelligence, it makes for a very, very good one. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Using simplicity as another form of deception, Mamet lays out a hand of three-card monte for the audience to see, then tricks it into guessing falsely. In this case, it's worth getting fooled out of a little cash. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A political thriller with topical currency, Spartan delivers the goods. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Mamet being Mamet, the story has far greater repercussions than whether the kidnap victim will be returned to safety. This is a tale of grand conspiracies, formidable forces, shadow warfare; the more that is revealed, the higher the stakes become. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
An entertaining foray into a world of spy guys, stakeouts and secret government machinations, Spartan teems with the kind of terse crypto-speak that is the playwright and filmmaker's stock-in-trade. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie worked for me both as a commentary on the electoral process and as a slightly overcooked thriller. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Don't go expecting a good time to be had. But by all means, go to revel in a movie that, for about two-thirds of its length, is Mamet at the top of his game -- intelligent, tightly crafted, densely layered. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
When Spartan is good, it's surprisingly gripping and fresh, and when it's bad, it's just another overcooked Hollywood paranoid thriller. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
Sometimes I wonder how Mamet can get out of bed, he's so paranoid, let along crank out two-thirds (at least) of a thriller this crackerjack. I hope that next time he leaves out the (booby) prize. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
A vigorous and engrossing genre exercise that manages the difficult trick of being both logically meticulous and genuinely surprising. Its elaborately implausible story gestures now and then toward an idea, but the movie's main concern is technique. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
This a film where men on both sides of the line are seasoned and efficient. Men after Mamet's own heart. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
This is one of those movies in which a strong ending might have made all the difference...But the wrap-up is unsatisfying, with too many questions unanswered. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
Spartan is all good. Then it isn't. Then it isn't at all good. Not at all. Read full review
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