Ben Gazzara, Campbell Scott, Felicity Huffman

Campbell Scott plays a green young technocrat who invents a secret and highly successful high-tech process that, it appears, most of the free world would like to get their hands on. His own company ma...( read more  read more... )y not be dealing with him fairly, and competitors are lurking around every street corner and kiddie carousel in New York (not to mention Caribbean hideaways) hoping to steal, cajole, or trick him out of the formula. The plot is as full of switchbacks as a mountain highway, and the delights are in watching it unfold around Scott, who is not so much of a naif that he doesn't catch on that not only his formula, but his life, are in dire danger. Steve Martin is consummately assured--and scary as hell--as a wealthy big shot determined to come out on top. David Mamet's script is refreshingly free from his trademark mannerisms; it's his most satisfying film since 1987's House of Games. --Anne Hurley

Flixster Users

81% liked it

6,310 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

58 critics

PG, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: David Mamet

Release Date: September 8, 1997

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DVD Release Date: October 6, 1998

Stats: 393 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (393)


  • July 21, 2009
    Mamet takes a page from the Hitchcock hand book.
  • May 25, 2009
    Mamet plays to be Hitchcock like he did in his first feature. The results are pretty good, a fine and engaging thriller that unravels its clues patiently and keeps you guessing what is going to happen next.
  • March 14, 2009
    A perfectly cast film by David Mamet.
  • April 16, 2008
    The worst thing about Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner" is that it thinks it's smart. That we will never know what's going to happen next. Who's going to con who and how's the whole thing is going to end. Yes, if at first, I'll agree, we're not telepaths after all. But after the fir...( read more)st plot-twist, we really don't want to know anymore.

    "The Spanish Prisoner" carries the same problem that Mamet's debut, "House of Games". It simply tries too hard. As if it didn't know that the good thriller always have to consist certain coolness to it so it may hit us with a speed of bullet at the right moment we don't expect it. Remember that scene when Lindsay Crouse almost gets conned for the first time by the poker table by Joe Mantegna and his friends? You saw that coming, don't you? Well, even if you didn't, when it happend you weren't much suprised, did you? The scene was built so self-conciously that even if Roger Rabbit himself came up from Mantegna's hat, I wouldn't be suprised. I would do exactly what I did when a first saw it: I would laughed. Mamet is a pure anti-talent in creating cinematic tension. His sets are staged, actors are staged, hell, every damn move is staged, you can feel it as when you're feeling your head when you're hangover, or when you numb your ass on a bench in a bad high school theater. Or in a bad cinema, for that matter.

    Stiffness in "The Spanish Prisoner" is simply overwhelming and the whole plot feels so forced that even such wonderful talents like Campbell Scott or Ben Gazzara can't do anything to make it work for at least couple of minutes to get us back on track. And I don't wish to insult Rebecca Pidgeon here, but, really, why is it that everytime I see her acting on the screen I can't help the thought that her place lays somewhere else, anywhere, but not in front of the camera? One thing is certain: she's not the one who does the cast.
  • October 13, 2008
    Don't know how this one ever got by me. Don't let title throw you. Steve martin Played a great part. Its worth seeing and adding to your collection.
  • November 13, 2009
    Mamet's work this time is not working as good as it gets.
  • July 1, 2009
    Wow, what a screenplay! Can't believe I haven't seen this movie sooner
  • June 20, 2009
    Definitely would recommend this one, four stars minimum, need to see again to rate fairly.
  • January 5, 2009
    Wooden delivery of rather corny dialogue (I've read it was a stylistic choice, and if so it was a bad one). The plot is somewhat contrived, but not overly. It's a perfectly passable "con" film, but you'd do better to (re)watch The Sting or any of the Oceans films.
  • December 10, 2008
    no thanks not my kinda thing

Critic Reviews


April 12, 2002
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

There's something fresh, even restorative, in watching an American studio movie that doesn't treat the movie-going audience like a bunch of gullible marks. full review

January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It rolls its sleeves above its elbows to show it has no hidden cards, and then produces them out of thin air. full review

View more The Spanish Prisoner reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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The Spanish Prisoner Trivia


  • Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron is internationally known for ¨the blockbuster movie ¨Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban¨ and ¨Children of Men¨. But which 2001 Spanish language film is his most critically acclaimed film? Hint: Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal starred on it.   Answer »
  • Who stars in the Mamet film "Spanish Prisoner"?  Answer »
  • In which Steve Martin movie would you hear him say the following? Always do business as if the person you're doing business with is trying to screw you, because he probably is. And if he's not, you can be pleasantly surprised.   Answer »
  • Which very thrilling David Mamet's film casts Steve Martin in a serious role that involves murder and betrayal?   Answer »

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