That was an excellent one.

Lack of good storyline.

Admirable film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

For the benefit of those who haven't seen the film, 'The Spanish Prisoner' is a con game playing to a victim's vanity and greed. I didn't know that before watching the picture, but have seen the modern day, internet equivalent in action that goes by the name of a Nigerian Money Transfer. Same idea, you'll get rich if you shell out some cash to help out a 'rich' unfortunate in a foreign country. Sure, and there are bridges in New York City you can buy too. This was a compelling and intriguing story up to the point when Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) knew he was duped. Then it sort of fell apart under it's own complexity. What gave it away was one main thing. In a glaring unforced error in screen writing, Ross's contact at the FBI accepted his cold call and agreed to meet him at a questionable location. Ross, who was smart enough to come up with 'a process' that would control the global market for his company, didn't have an inkling that the odds of getting face time with an agent were virtually nil on the basis of an anonymous phone call. That one instance lowered the credibility factor of the story for me, and then it was a patient wait to see how it all played out. One thing though, I'd never seen Steve Martin in a serious role before and I thought he did a great job as the enigmatic Julian 'Jimmy' Dell. His role was critical in setting up the scam, the grift as it were, The Spanish Prisoner trap for Ross. I liked what he had to say about good people/bad people, that people generally look like what they are. I've often come to that same conclusion myself, it's sort of an intuition you get about someone who might not be playing it straight with you. I thought Jimmy Dell was giving off that vibe even while being generous to a fault with Ross. But if you're looking for that switch with the red bound book containing 'the process', you're not going to see it. The camera never leaves the book when it was positioned on the ledge by the phony FBI agent and then handed back to Ross. You just have to take it on faith that the scam was pulled off. So without analyzing things too thoroughly the film is a good enough mystery flick, but still, it's the little things that bother me. Like the switch Joe Ross himself made with the Budge tennis book. It turned out to be a maguffin of sorts with no bearing on the outcome of the story, just like Jimmy Dell's 'sister' ruse. And in the end, Joe Ross WAS the victim of an elaborate scam because his process notes were gone along with his expected big time pay day. Some days, it just doesn't pay to chew through the restraints.

I love a bit of Steve Martin. So I was very enthusiastic while looking through his movies when I found this one. A nice high-rated crime/mystery/thriller from David Mamet with Steve Martin! Sounds great!But, unfortunately, it was probably one of the least thrilling thrillers I've ever watched. Predictable, with plot holes, indifferent directing and naive scenario. ***Spoilers*** (Even though the whole movie was a big spoil)Just to name a few cringe moments: - why is Susan throughout the movie actively trying to convince the "hero" that Jimmy Dell wasn't actually on that hydroplane? She's in on it... you'd think she'd want to keep quiet about it. why did Susan help him escape the police from the NY airport and drove him to Boston, only to then slip him a gun so he'd be arrested by the police. The airplane ticket she had was a return ticket from St. Estephe back to NY... in her name. And he would use that ticket to fly himself from Boston back to St. Estephe. Its an airplane ticket not a refund coupon for Walmart.If everything was setup by his boss Mr. Klein why did he bail him out, not press charges and beg him to return the book? Ridiculous!!The worst of all... why are con artists still around chasing Joe on the airport and boat scene? They have the book... they've setup everything to accuse Joe... it's over. They need nothing else from him. Just leave and you're home free. But they hang around for some reason and chase him. Even though they want nothing from him. Monumental idiotic! And just think about it for a minute... The con artists didn't really need anything from Joe. They had the second key from Mr Klein, so they had the book at any time they wanted. They could setup everything to frame Joe without him even getting involved. What was all the other silly nonsense about? Creating a fake sister, a fake FBI agent, a fake apartment, club etc. All that to make him bring the book... which they had access to all along. Pathetic!And just to mention few completely silly and embarrassing moments: the woman shouting at the baby "You got your FINGERPINTS all over the BOOK" two or three times! Yes yes!! We got it!! We got it half an hour ago!! Joe painfully asking Susan a few times why she was a criminal. "Why"? Wow... talk naive scenario.They could however fix this whole movie with adding just one punchline. And I offer this free of charge for the "director's cut" version of the movie. When the US Marshals van leaves and he's left all alone on the pier at the end of the movie he could just turn towards the camera and say "Gotcha Suckers!". Then all the Steve Martin fans would understand this movie is actually a parody from Bowfinger productions!

Sometimes actors get type casted. One of those actors is Steve Martin. Known for his starring roles in comedies, in this movie he plays a completely different kind of part and plays it well, which is surprising as the movie is a crime drama. The movie itself is great. It has a clever plot, interesting characters, an engaging style, and strong finale. The bad guys are wonderful and their hapless victim, worthy of empathy. The movie is about greed, and false appearances. The bad guys seem good and the good guy is, well, we don't know; the audience is kept guessing. The entire cast is excellent. After watching this movie, one can leave feeling that they have been entertained and also shown what can happen when you let your guard down and trust others just because of the way they look. Yes, appearances can be deceiving and this movie shows how.

I was tempted to run screaming from the room after viewing the first twenty or so minutes of The Spanish Prisoner due to its less than desirable bunch of actors. However, I was intrigued in spite of myself and ended up finishing the film. A man is hired by his boss to work on a top- secret project and espionage ensues. The writing was phenomenal, in my opinion. I would have preferred to read this as a novel as the plot is only slightly predictable and there are so many twists that no one could figure it out entirely. The acting is simply sophomoric. I think David Mamet should fire the person who did the casting. However, the writing was good enough to balance out the atrocity of the acting, hence my rating of 5.