The Spanish Prisoner

PG

1998

1 hr. 52 min.

Crime

Drama

List

89%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

81%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Everything changes for rising corporate star Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) when he meets the wealthy and mysterious Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin) at a tropical resort. Dell offers to help Ross protect his new business process invention, but in short order Ross finds himself falsely accused of murder. Working with the FBI and his assistant, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon), Ross sets out to prove his innocence and disentangle himself from the diabolical entrapment.

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Critics Consensus

The Spanish Prisoner delivers just what fans of writer-director David Mamet expect: a smart, solidly constructed drama that keeps viewers guessing... and entertained along the way.

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Shioka O

I want to like this thriller, but I couldn't get into it maybe because the characters are being bland and speak emotionless. Given that smart and theatrical dialogs, I would like to have more intensity.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/10/22

Full Review

chuck r

This one remains an all time favorite of mine. One of the best that David Mamet ever put forth with a great performance by Campbell Scott and a memorable dramatic turn for Steve Martin. Check this out!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Why does no one is this film have any emotions? Why is it that David Mamet told everyone to be as stoic as humanly possible? I just watched this movie for the second time not realizing I had seen it 20 years ago. Films usually aren't forgettable but I remember feeling this way the first time. It's uneventful and we have no reason to care for the main characters survival. I can see how this movie could be on stage, maybe it would have been better suited there.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/22/21

Full Review

Audience Member

What I remember most about The Spanish Prisoner is the music. The score is marked by strange and beautiful melodies whose notes are hard to anticipate; downbeats are occasionally accented with the ringing of a bell. The movie goes along like this too. The main character is unwittingly wrangled into a sinister and inscrutable plot. His most precious possession, an extremely lucrative innovation referred to as "the Process," has been compromised. He strains to piece together what's happening to him and who's behind it all. From time to time, he realizes some small truth -- a bell is rung -- but then the melody moves on and he's too late. It's already "in the movie," as the Merry Pranksters might say. What I don't remember about the movie is the emotion. There's a man who by the end of the film appears to have been fooled by everyone. He's even been framed for murder. He's lost the thing that is most important to him. And yet we never see him overly emotive, let alone hysterical. We don't see any other characters like that either. This isn't a bad thing. There's a logic to the movie, even if we don't understand it, and for those wheels to turn smoothly they can't be gummed up by any sort of "why me?" kind of sentiment. It's also helps to let the aesthetic in. It's a cold one but that's what makes it unique.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Milo M

The Spanish Prisoner is about a man that invented something worth lots of money but his boss is not saying much about his bonus. So he tries to find help but someone near him is playing him, trying to steal the invention.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/20/20

Full Review

Audience Member

I loved this film. It is clever and knows it, but it still is fun to watch!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

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David Mamet

Director

Campbell Scott

Joseph A. "Joe" Ross

Rebecca Pidgeon

Susan Ricci

Steve Martin

Julian "Jimmy" Dell

Ricky Jay

George Lang

Ben Gazzara

Mr. Klein

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Mike Clark

USA Today

There are enough twists and grown-up intrigue to keep one asking, "Hey, what's going on here?"

Rated: 3/4

Jan 9, 2018

Full Review

Leonard Klady

Variety

David Mamet has a penchant for sleight-of-hand thrillers, and The Spanish Prisoner is his craftiest to date.

Nov 20, 2008

Full Review

Andrew Sarris

Observer

The Spanish Prisoner shares with Glengarry Glen Ross a vision of life as a cosmic con game in which the victimizers feed the fantasies of the victims.

Apr 27, 2007

Full Review

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

“The Spanish Prisoner” is the kind of film that makes you glad you went...

Rated: 3.5/4

Oct 5, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

I realize this is a different kind of movie, one that demands to be plot-driven, not messy or discursive, but Mamet’s true gifts lie elsewhere.

Rated: B

Sep 1, 2022

Full Review

Michael Clark

Epoch Times

A neo-noir thriller cut from a fine bolt of Hitchcockian gabardine laced with silken Chekhovian thread, “The Spanish Prisoner” gets its title from a passage presented in the third act that Mamet calls “the oldest con in the book.”

Rated: 4.5/5

Jul 3, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Everything changes for rising corporate star Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) when he meets the wealthy and mysterious Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin) at a tropical resort. Dell offers to help Ross protect his new business process invention, but in short order Ross finds himself falsely accused of murder. Working with the FBI and his assistant, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon), Ross sets out to prove his innocence and disentangle himself from the diabolical entrapment.

Director: David Mamet
Executive Producer: Letty Aronson, J.E. Beaucaire
Screenwriter: David Mamet
Production Co: Magnolia Films, Sweetland Films, Jasmine Productions Inc., Jean Doumanian Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 22, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.6K
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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