The Spanish Prisoner

1998 "It's the oldest con in the book."
7.2| 1h50m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 03 April 1998 Released
Producted By: Jean Doumanian Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

An inventor of a secret process suddenly finds himself alone as both his friends and the corporation he works for turn against him.

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Reviews

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
merklekranz Down the drain goes 110 minutes, totally wasted on this movie where everyone is questionable as to their motives. A real confusing story leads down various paths to nowhere, because in the end believability flies out the window, and the viewer is left holding a 110 minute bag. Mamet scored a true winner with "House of Games", and while "The Spanish Prisoner" may not be his worst film, it is so far from being logical, that I simply cannot suggest anything except to avoid like you would a rabid dog. I could go on and on about how characters suddenly appear out of thin air, simply to pile on another layer of nonsense that lacks both logic and believability. The way the conclusion is rushed in to tie everything together is laughable. - Merk
the_one-756-914381 There are many kinds of cinemas. This one is one of the top examples of story telling. You won't notice any camera work, any music (was there any?) etc. You are just absorbed by how well the story is told. Trust me, within 5 minutes (though you won't get to understand what's exactly happening there in such short time) you'll be absorbed. Even Steve Martin is watchable.Also perhaps the only movie (at least for grown-ups) with no swearing. At all. Except for a short scene showing a stabbed body, this is a film for everybody (if the youths can get it). In this regard, the exact opposite of "Glengarry Glen Ross".I find it very strange that the less people have to say, the more they shout and swear. As if even their ordinary words require some kind of 'strengthening' to be taken seriously. You can't just say something is good, because, you see, nobody would take that. However, when saying "something is f... good", you suddenly receive all the attention you've wanted, and they even believe you. Going further down that road, I suppose one day we have to kill our loved ones, to convince them that, indeed, we love them. Exaggerating? Really? Remember LOST TV series and its throughout gratuitous violence, like the scene when Locke, burdened with the memory of something bad in his life, being hit with the car by Desmond, so that he would let go? Figure that out: I care so much for my friend that when I see him troubled by something I hit him with my car (violently, by the way) so that he would let go and start smiling again.Back to the movie at hand, I'll have to warn you that after seeing this one, you won't anymore enjoy your daily movie rubbish. That happens, you know, when you have the courage to open up your eyes.In the same evening, I also saw 'Harrison Bergeron' (1995), another story-teller, and now I'm having trouble finding MOVIES (you know, the ones that you can watch beyond their first 10 minutes).So, if you're comfortably numb (as Pink Floyd put it a few decades back), stay away from movies like this one.
evanston_dad What a fun movie! "The Spanish Prisoner" is a clever and suspenseful little mystery/thriller that stars Campbell Scott, a terrific actor who's always flown just under the radar, as an everyday Joe who finds himself at the center of a puzzling -- and increasingly so as the movie progresses -- intrigue being engineered by someone else.David Mamet proves himself to be as good a director as he is a writer, evoking comparisons to Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith.Steve Martin appears in an unusual (for him) role, and Mamet's real-life wife (at least at the time), Rebecca Pidgeon, plays a double-crossing femme fatale.Grade: A
viking971 This movie is a joke with way too many plot holes. 1)When she takes his picture in front of the seaplane, he then takes her camera and takes her picture. She then leaves without asking for her camera back which is when Jimmy asks for it and he gives it to him. Yet somehow she is able to develop pictures from this camera which she never got back. I know they were working together and she could have got the camera back from Jimmy, but he would know. Lame. 2)Why does he feel compelled to follow a strange man into some building only to find Jimmy buying a sports car? No one would do that and there is no reason for him to do so. Pathetic. 3)When he signs the club membership certificate, although they try to block what it says it clearly reads Club Membership, and not the Columbia Venezuela thing it says when they show it later. Come on Mamet! 4) Numerous phrases that come out of people's mouths that no one in those situations would ever say. Example: This ticket is for Venezuela, why would you want to go there? Huh? Who would say that. Stupid. You know what I could go on, but why bother? I expect more from Mamet. This movie treats the viewer like an idiot. Skip this junk!