The Spanish Prisoner

Name: The Spanish Prisoner
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Released: April 3, 1998
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Steve Martin

1998

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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8.0

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

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The Spanish Prisoner

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 3, 1998 | PG

Starring: Ben Gazzara, Steve Martin

Summary: This film centers on an elaborate confidence game, and its labyrinthine plot is laden with twists and reversals. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Director: David Mamet

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: PG

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Janet Maslin

This is his sleekest and most engaging film thus far. If you like a good cat-and-mouse game with a keen ear for language, then go. Read full review

F. X. Feeney

Everyone plays their role (and the roles within their roles) to perfection, and writer-director Mamet keeps us guessing what's what and who's who right up until the final minute. Read full review

Jay Carr

It's a treat to encounter the deadpan light-handedness with which Mamet goes about his business. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

The weird thing about the films David Mamet has directed is that they have about as much emotion as a cyborg in a science fiction movie, yet by the end of the picture it isn't necessary; by then the audience has supplied their own. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is fun if you're looking mainly for light entertainment. Read full review

Dallas Observer Michael Sragow

Writer-director David Mamet delights in his own supposed cleverness; he wants you to scratch your head while he manipulates your brain. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

The story works, in that everything fits together, but the film feels hollow and unfinished, like a run-through for a movie rather than the movie itself. Read full review

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Compi24

Apr 1, 2019

9 times out of 10, when a film doesn't quite work, it has everything to do with the integrity of the story in play. Oddly enough, David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner" is in that 10% of movies that suffer tremendously at the hands of epidermal issues, despite featuring a solidly structured9 times out of 10, when a film doesn't quite work, it has everything to do with the integrity of the story in play. Oddly enough, David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner" is in that 10% of movies that suffer tremendously at the hands of epidermal issues, despite featuring a solidly structured narrative. Generally known for his terse, vulgar, and realistic depictions of human conversation, Mamet adopts a surprisingly "PG-rated" approach to telling this story, using overly proper language and formalities to get his characters' points across. This hamstrings things, as the audience has a hard time believing that characters actually talk like this. The occasionally stilted acting layered onto these words doesn't help either, ultimately steering the audience into a "chicken/egg" type of debate with themselves on who's to blame for the artificiality of it all. Is that kind of dialogue simply impossible for any actor to speak believably? Or is the acting not skilled enough to deliver the perfectly reasonable lines? It's hard to say without reading the script, but I'm sure both are of relatively equal blame. Other than these shockingly cosmetic issues, though, it's a really fun ride. The plot is just a few narrative flourishes ahead of you, allowing you to feel as though you're in capable hands, but whilst throwing you the proverbial bone every now and then to make you feel intelligent. I'm sure this was calculated. Overall, it's a solid, yet audibly imperfect watch.… Expand

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40	#40 Best Movie of 1998
88	#88 Most Shared Movie of 1998