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The Spanish Prisoner (1997)
A corporate employee that's working on a data process to verify a windfall projection is given the go ahead to present some incidentals involving a proprietary formula that's a de facto operation to field the team's investment interests, but it's neither here nor there. *gesticulations intensify* He's a business man... doing business.
Then our guy begins to unravel a corporate conspiracy, and apparently to him, everyone can be trusted. This is frustrating. I liked the main character, but he becomes more of a dolt as the clock ticks. I wanted to come through the screen and shake him by the lapels. I like David Mamet too, but the insulting contrivances, tacky ending, and shortsighted main character seem way below the Mamet writing standard that I'm familiar with. This actually started off really well, but the abandonment of common sense killed it (and may kill you with all the hammers hitting you over the head).
Credit to Carter Burwell for keeping the mystery vibe going. His brass section tries to outdo-do-doo Glassworks with one constantly raised eyebrow.
Much of what I'm reading about this praises its clever writing, so now I feel like I'm in a Mamet-ian conspiracy wherein nefarious actors are trying to convince me that this is a good story. Not falling for it. I'm not sure how anyone watches this without seeing the plot twists coming from a mile away. Sorry to be so negative. Maybe I watch too many damn movies.
A corporate employee that's working on a data process to verify a windfall projection is given the go ahead to present some incidentals involving a proprietary formula that's a de facto operation to field the team's investment interests, but it's neither here nor there. *gesticulations intensify* He's a business man... doing business.
Then our guy begins to unravel a corporate conspiracy, and apparently to him, everyone can be trusted. This is frustrating. I liked the main character, but he becomes more of a dolt as the clock ticks. I wanted to come through the screen and shake him by the lapels. I like David Mamet too, but the insulting contrivances, tacky ending, and shortsighted main character seem way below the Mamet writing standard that I'm familiar with. This actually started off really well, but the abandonment of common sense killed it (and may kill you with all the hammers hitting you over the head).
Credit to Carter Burwell for keeping the mystery vibe going. His brass section tries to outdo-do-doo Glassworks with one constantly raised eyebrow.
Much of what I'm reading about this praises its clever writing, so now I feel like I'm in a Mamet-ian conspiracy wherein nefarious actors are trying to convince me that this is a good story. Not falling for it. I'm not sure how anyone watches this without seeing the plot twists coming from a mile away. Sorry to be so negative. Maybe I watch too many damn movies.