One Of Kilmer's Best Performan
Added 4/27/2009
Secret Serviceman extra-ordinnaire Val Kilmer tries to retrieve a kidnapped politician's daughter in this surprisingly-good thriller.
There isn't a lot of violence in this modern day tough rescue story, but when it occurs, look out! Kilmer is very good in here, one of his best performances ever and the film is nicely photographed. The only warning I would give viewers is the language, which contains about 25 f-words.
The best plug I can give this film is that it was very entertaining, start to finish, and that's what most of us are looking for - entertainment. It keeps your attention the full 100-plus minutes. Make no mistake: Kilmer is the show. Everything in the story really revolves around him.
There was anything that struck a sour note with me, it would be the story with the kidnapped girl's father. I don't think he was realistic, but I won't say more in fear of spoiling anything for those who haven't seen this.
Nonetheless, an under-publicized excellent film of 2004.
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great spy film
Added 2/23/2009
I like the way the workings of "the unit" and spy stuff is just presented without explanation. A lot of nods and understood things without abnormal explanatory dialog explaining everything that would never occur in real life unless they were in the presence of politicians, managers or other complete idiots. It's a very good spy film, believable and shocking. Makes old Jack Baur look like a Boy Scout, which is a good thing. They didn't have whoop-de-doo electronics that are fake (like 24 does some), and wild fire ball explosions that are fake (like 99% of Hollywood movies). It was good, I enjoyed it. Val is always excellent.
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"where's the girl"
Added 12/16/2008
It's a David Mamet movie. Enough said.
Well I'll ramble on for a moment here because I do like this movie.
If this flick was supposed to be based on real events -or "real events", or had a message, or was popular with rightwingers, or--God spare us--moronically depicted torture as a vital and reliable way to gather informationa and save countless lives from immanent doom--then it would suck in my book. I have very mixed feelings, you might say, on movies depicting the military and spies and lots of the stuff that goes with that like murdering people. But just like any red blooded male and American the dark and unsurprising truth is I love watching violence with guns and explosions and bad a** alpha-males doing the impossible. (I don't remember explosions in this one though.)
Basically SPARTAN can be viewed as a kind of cinematic version of the TV series "24".
Val Kilmer is excellent in this role as a sort of Delta Force type commando or super-elite agent. It has the guy who was in TV's "Married with Children" playing head of the FBI or something and he is fantastic. You wouldn't believe how real he is as a take charge alpha-male head of a huge and powerful governmental agency. Everybody is good.
As far as the plot goes, basically the president's daughter is missing and it ain't clear where she is because she is missing and of course you don't know who has her or why. And you also don't know what some people that you'd think don't know anything actually do or who is up to what or why. A web of decite and misinformation and so on. Who's playin' and who's getting played? Bottom line, what's special about this stylish David Mamet tale is, of course, the dialog. It can be over-the-top at times as is sometimes the case with his stuff, but it's still great and I like how it's laid on thick. And Val Kilmer is the man.
I highly recommend SPARTAN and all David Mamet movies.
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I thought it was first rate
Added 12/4/2008
This is tightly written and edited down to the final shot. It is flab-free, and if your belief must be suspended here and there, the entertainment quotient makes it worth it. Val Kilmer kills as the super SS agent, searching for the daughter of, the president? We are never told outright. That's one of the charms here. A great way to spend two hours. Watch this.
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For some reason David Mamet has been wildly overpraised as 1st a playwright, then a filmmaker. This is not to say that he's not good, & better than typical playwrights & filmmakers, just that he's not nearly as good as others think he is. Spartan is a good example of typical Mamet- better than your typical thriller, yet still missing something.
The film stars the up & down Val Kilmer as a man named Scott- 1 of the peripatetic Men In Black sorts who freelance dangerous work for assorted government agencies. The thrust of the film is the mother of all urban legends- that many pretty, white (especially blond) young women, are kidnapped off the streets & sold into white slavery overseas. While, on occasions, there have been cases of this, they occur once per decade. More usually American girls who hook overseas do so by choice because the country they practice in has legalized prostitution. This film, however, ties white slavery in with the current anti-Moslem paranoia. I'm as anti-Moslem as the next American (as well anti-all religions), but the plot of the film is absurd. The daughter, Laura Newton (Kristin Bell), of a powerful political figure (of unknown rank) has been kidnapped. Scott goes through a series of seemingly related, but mostly red herring, adventures that sees 2 of his sometime partners killed, Curtis (Derek Luke), & sexy Jackie Black (Tia Texada). The daughter's disappearance can only be covered up so long before the media will have at it, yet it may be the politician wanted his daughter to be kidnapped. A cover story that she drowned at sea is concocted.... Overall, I'd say take a pass & watch the original The Manchurian Candidate. At least there the good & bad are delineated. In Spartan gray is its rapture, & what forms it no rainbow.
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