The Spanish Prisoner

Director: David Mamet
Cast:
Ben Gazzara
Felicity Huffman
Campbell Scott
Ricky Joy
Steve Martin

I suppose we're all in search of one thing when it comes to mysteries: the successor to "The Usual Suspects." Something about that movie left an indelible taste in everyone's mouths, thirsting for more, desperately wanting a psychological thriller that will keep us guessing until the credits roll up. It is with supreme pleasure, then, that you will receive David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner"—while not as violent, and perhaps lacking in otherworld silliness, it is equal in intelligence and in its ability to keep us in a delicious sort of dark until the last sentence. Campbell Scott stars as Joe Ross, a mild-mannered businessman who has invented a formula guaranteed to make his company rich beyond belief. Of course, this info would be valuable to anybody, putting even bit parts under suspicion. Joe's secretary Susan, played with a seductive asexuality by Rebecca Pidgeon, thinks she's got everything figured out: mysterious businessman Steve Martin, boss Ben Gazzara, even the FBI that seems to be everywhere. Her weird speech patterns and wide-eyed obviousness is so sexy that you want her and Joe to get together, despite everything in the movie: she's Mamet's best character in years (fittingly enough, Ms. Pidgeon is his wife). Campbell Scott is terrific too; his straightlaced demeanor is twinged with the tiniest lust for the perverse—you can tell he's having fun.

Reminiscent of the best bits of last year's The Game, and a lot like Hitchcock's most elaborate plots (think "The Man Who Knew Too Much" crossed with North by Northwest with a dash of "The Sting"), it is this season's best mental gymnastics and a whole lot of fun.

—Ian Williams

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