The Spanish Prisoner

mamet, olay örgüsündeki boşluklar veya rahatsız edici kimi diyaloglar olduğunda dahi tuhaf bir çekicilikle anlatıyı kurmayı başarıyor her zaman olduğu gibi. ama burada da başat olan en önemli özelliği ne kadar twist-sever bir yapısı olsa da bunları ne açık etme noktasında büyütüyor ne de göze sokuyor: arka planda başka şeyler döndüğünü fısıldayıp anlatmaya devam ediyor.

A bit slow to get going but a well done take on the classic con artist movie with deeper twists than the usual. Much better than Mamet's other go at con artists in House of Games.

An excellent thriller. Not Mamet's best work but still enjoyable.

A small film, but smart and sophisticated. Great work by Campell Scott.

Mamet goes Hitchcockian. No one is what they appear to be (if they were, it wouldn't be much of a thriller) in this unpredictable and seductive puzzle. Although the staccato dialogue is grating at times, and the emotional payoff is slight, there's enough twists throughout to keep you intrigued. Title comes from an old scam that feeds on the greed and lust of the mark.

Feels like a film school's final group project with how stilted some of the dialogue and performances are. Decent twists but it's painful to get through at times.

Wow. This is one of those movies that relies on hundreds of tiny things going right to work, but aside from that the plot holds up to scrutiny and it's so entertaining that it doesn't matter. Fincher's The Game is one of my favorite films, and this has similar ideas and would make an great double feature. They were both released in the same year. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoilers, as it deserves to be discovered. Steve Martin is good in a rare totally non-comedy role.

I only mistrust strangers.

At first, I thought the dialogue was very unnatural, then I realized the writer/director was going for a neo-noir (modern version of film noir) and it made more sense. Some twists until the very end, when all is revealed.

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There is a glaring, maddening oversight at the most crucial moment in this otherwise impeccably devised mystery, and I have to take points off for that. To be fair, you may not even notice it, and anyway it's a remarkable movie, reminded me of House of Games, and the comparisons to Hitchcock don't do it justice (Mamet-ized The Sting would be a more fitting compliment).

nice movie, (for a kid too)

The somewhat stiff performances aside, it is mostly interesting & entertaining. Despite its slow pace, it's hard to catch some of the subtle nuances. Our lead character gets played for a sucker by an elaborate group of con artists. The sting was obvious & predictable, but the actual switch wasn't revealed. The only surprise was the romantic betrayal. The plot goes off the rails, then fails completely with an unrealistic & unsatisfying final act.

83.000

Not at all bad but you need to concentrate - deeply complex multiple plots are well crafted but demand constant attention. The plot has moments where it is contrived but overall not a bad thriller. Worth watching if you like a plot that keeps you on your toes.

On deception and trust and, to an extent, trusts. The first hour does a very good job at evoking a feeling of paranoia, and the whole thing seems as well to be about drawing attention to the fact that narrative convention is something like an elaborate con. It tends to be unsatisfying when paranoia-themed films end with the triumph of the protagonist, but in this case I guess the point was more about exposing the artifice of the mechanics of the genre than fostering tragic emotion.

For what it's worth, a far better movie than "House of Games." Yes, the delivery is awkward but that is part of the Mamet charm and atmosphere. Yes, the story is preposterous, but it is unquestionably fair on the viewer unlike almost all other movies with an intricate plot. This is a great movie that absolutely doesn't deserve to be as unknown as it is.

A decent script delivered by dull actors. Its has an overtly fake Hitchcockian feel to it. As good as Mamet is as a writer you'd think he'd do a better job of directing the film. In the hands of a more capable director this might have been a great movie. However it wasn't and the result is mediocre.

83.000

Although there's some poor casting choices and some predictability throughout, it is overall a good film and worth recommending.

A very slow build to an extremely fun film by the end. Of course it's a Mamet film, so it feels like a Mamet work, but the twists are well worth it. It plays a lot with the viewer's head. I enjoyed it for that, even though it really takes quite a while to start kicking in.

Mamet hits rock bottom with this predictable tripe, which incidentally hit the lucky number of being flick nr. 1.000.000 to ape Hitchcock unsuccessfully.

Somewhat predictable but still enjoyable.

Terrible...I can't believe people actually liked this trash. A total snooze, with inane, embarrassing scriptwriting and wooden delivery to match. How are you not seeing this, people? HOW ARE YOU NOT SEEING THIS?

complex and interesting

Like watching Salvador Dali painting "Persistence of Memory" Mamet is a genius.

Loaded with that bizarro stilted dialogue that Mamet does, but that's the only major flaw in this taut, Hitchcockian suspense.

Knowing anything about this movie is too much. Steve is fun to see again, and the characters are likable. The movie, to its credit, maintains an awkward uneasiness which builds into a a fine tension. I would prefer an alternate ending.

Another groovy David Mamet intellectual thriller. There's one massive plot hole involving the lead character doing something quite stupid, but somehow it never bothered me even though I knew it was wrong at the time

Despite the many twists in the storyline, it isn't very difficult to see where things are leading at times, but the film still offers an insightful and intruiging peek into the nature of good and bad in humanity.

Mamet likes his plot twists a bit too much and they are both the film's source of success and failure. It's fun to watch things develop and keeps you on the edge of your toes but eventually becomes frustrating and silly.