Mamet hits the bulls-eye again !. Review on Spartan Movie

Before getting into the plot and characters of the film, let me ramble a bit on Mamet. One of the premier screen writers in film history, David Mamet has written for movies like ''The Untouchables'', ''Hannibal'', ''heist'', ''Wag the Dog'', ''Ronin'' etc. He is also a Pulitzer prize winning writer. But most importantly he tries to innovate and raise the bar every time he puts his pen to paper.

Mamet has a unique story narrating style. He does not bother to explain the situation to the viewers, but uses a sly deceptive narration, opening only the peices of the plot the viewer has to view. The characters talk in very colloquial language, often using terms as they would in their normal day life or profession. The films also focus more on visual delivery of the situation ie., the background scenery adds depth to the situation.

Plot

Val Kilmer plays Robert Scott an special operative agent who is training a group of recuits. He is suddenly called off the training to help trace Laura Newton a high ranking officials daughter. Working with an elite team of CIA, FBI and other govt. spying agencies, Scott and his trainee Derek trace the kidnapped girl. William H.Macy, a Mamet regular, and Ed O'Niell(from TV series Dragnet) are the leaders of the operation. During the investigation Scott and Derek stumble into a trafficking ring. Later as the turn of events they realise there's a lot more going on in the background.

The king of Sparta in ancient times used to send a single soldier as help when someone wanted help. As you watch the movie you'll realise the statement's meaning.

Cast

Kilmer has been bogged down by bad choices since his role as Batman. He has tried to break out in Wonderland and Salton Sea. But in this movie he comes back as one of the better method actors in the industry. As Scott the veteran Operative put in a situation he does not control and worse yet he does not have information about, Kilmer underplays the cool Operative running against time to perfection. Mamet has given him the best dialogues to give punch to the emotions.

Derek Luke as the protege, acts out the trainee role to a T and Tia Texada the other protege is pretty good though her role is limited. Macy, a Mamet regular, is the real scene stealer in the scenes he appears, especially in the climax.

Kristen Bell, plays Laura Newton quite effectively.

Direction and Crew

This is a very smartly written thriller with economy, uses the art of misdirecting the audience effectively. Mamet uses the story situations to put seeds of doubt in the minds of the audience and produces unexpected twists out of the air. There is not much use of heavy duty gadgets or techie verbal brouhaha seen in films like ''Enemy of the State'' and ''Spy Games''. He is a master in using more subtler techniques to effectively display the art of spycraft. Granted this will not appeal to the more crass entertainment oriented viewers. But for anyone who wants to view an intellectual film with real dialogue, smartly written scenes, fast paced situations and some real good acting, ''Spartan'' is the film to watch.