Acclaimed playwright David Mamet continues his movie-directing career with the noirish political thriller SPARTAN. Mamet clearly relishes a challenge, and by casting former Hollywood bad boy Val Kilmer in the lead role, this could be his biggest risk yet. Fortunately it's one that pays off, as Kilmer excels throughout in his role as Robert Scott, a high ranking special operations agent. Scott's expertise is called upon when the daughter of the U.S. President, Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), is kidnapped while studying at Harvard. Teaming up with rookie officer Curtis (Derek Luke), and a variety of Secret Service agents, Scott enters into a dangerous race against time to find Laura before the media gets its claws into the story. Twists and turns in the storyline are a Mamet trademark, and SPARTAN is no exception, with Kilmer and co. meeting a variety of bizarre dead ends on their desperate search for the abducted girl. A lead in the case suggests that Newton has been sold to a white slavery ring in Dubai, and a mission is mounted to find her, with Scott and Curtis at the helm. But when the mission is aborted at the last minute, Scott unwittingly stumbles into a possible Government cover up, which on further investigation leads him up to his neck in scandal, conspiracy, and a threat to his own life. Mamet clearly enjoys keeping viewers guessing, and as he continues to cloud the plot in smoke and mirrors, he ensures that nothing can be taken for granted right up until the final minute of the film.
Theatrical Release Date: March 12, 2004
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen - 2.39
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary: Val Kilmer - Star
Executive Producer
Frank Hubner: Executive Producer, FEAR DOT COM (2002)
Director of Photography
Juan Ruiz-Anchia:
Review 1:
"SPARTAN is just cryptic enough to keep you guessing..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.45-6 03/19/2004
Review 2:
"Mamet has a sharp, unconventional mind..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.E1 03/12/2004
Review 3:
"Oozing the paranoid atmosphere of the great '60s/'70s political thrillers by directors such as John Frankenheimer, it's still Mamet all the way down to the irony-drenched core."
Source: Box Office
p.32 05/01/2004
Review 4:
"[It] showcases Mamet the film-maker at his hardboiled best and emerges as that cinematic rarity...[an] action thriller with style and brains."
Source: Uncut
p.126 09/01/2004
Review 5:
"Mamet handles his baroque storyline with tremendous conviction and dexterity....This is Mamet's best film, period."
Source: Film Comment
p.78 07/01/2004
Review 6:
"[A] vigorous and engrossing genre exercise that manages the difficult trick of being both logically meticulous and genuinely surprising."
Source: New York Times
p.E1 03/12/2004
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