Fantastic!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I picked this movie based on a recommendation from a "best x conspiracy movies" list out there in the internet... what a bad choice. From the start this looked and sounded really cheap. I wanted to give it a chance so I continued to watch it, but oh my, it just got worse and worse. Val Kilmer is simply awful in it, and not even in a funny way, it's hard to think that he was even capable of such a b-movie, b- rater performance... in fact, giving him B-status is probably even a severe over-rating.The story, is actually alright, but ruined by the acting - William H Macy must really regret his bit-part in this...I said previously that it looked and sounded cheap... to elaborate: this movie was made in 2004, and looked and sounded like an early episode of X Files, and not in a good way.What a let down, from the beginning to the end.

Director David Mamet gives us an action thriller with real storytelling instead of over-the-top CGI effects that are thrown in for gee-whiz sakes. What happens is that you concentrate on the characters and the story as it is unfolding before your eyes. This is one of the best films in recent years to really give me a 'jolt' with some of the plot twists. I'm surprised Hollywood didn't fight over this script, it is mostly original, and is lean and smart. It doesn't want to throw in some stupid love interest or a "last chance to be a hero before retiring" sub plot. Not once does your brain enter that "been there - done that" zone. The well edited dialogue draws you in like a Tom Clancy novel, giving you snapshots of characters at first, then filling in the blanks as the plot unfolds. This allows the 2nd half of the story to be plausible enough to follow it through to the exciting finish. Swear to god, it got my heart pounding once the urgency of the damsel in distress hits the main character. Val Kilmer, a government agent who plays between the lines, is no John Clark. He loses points for not having any emotion to the degree that the audience can't relate to him at all. It ultimately makes him just another soldier more dispensable than his mission. The fun with David Mamet films are the gritty side characters he paints across the landscape of this adventure. A good example is an elderly secret service lady who reveals her own motherly connections to the President's daughter. She appears in one scene only, but the depth of her character becomes one of the anchors of the story. Terrific acting throughout. More fun comes from the unpredictable twists that keep the roller coaster ride going. Movie audiences that are used to Bruce Willis posing his way from one explosion to the next, will have a chance to find themselves impressed by how much the script respects your intelligence. If this was a just world, good word of mouth would give this film some legs. Hopefully it will have some life on DVD.

First this isn't a spy movie, just another cliché ridden, cheesy police-action movie with a lot of gratuitous violence to compensate a poor script. Second, when the hero is an agent of the government, we expect it to behave according to the laws and not like a criminal, torturing and killing people for no reasons. When you justify the criminal behavior of the government giving the excuse of "emergency" or "national security" this gives a VERY dangerous message.Finally the whole movie is a mess, very confusing, with random shootings and beatings to cover plot holes. I can't realize how such a poor movie could get this high rating here.

Val Kilmer is an actor I have always been fond of. Sure, he has been in a lot of crap lately, but back in the day he was dedicated to his craft. His last good film was Felon, since then it's been down hill for the poor guy. Spartan, the Mamet written and directed feature was his last big starring role in a film that would have been seen because of him. Much like The Salton Sea, the film was good, seen by few and has a few detractors that take away from the overall enjoyment of it.Kilmer plays Scott, an agent sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a high ranking United States government official. Kilmer plays the role with determination, next to no emotion and a sense of realism. He isn't Rambo, killing hundreds of guys without reloading, but he does know his way around a gun. Spartan sets itself apart from those films because it's more interested in the characters and the story than the action. Mamet has a keen eye for dialogue, most people either love it or hate it. Watch Glengarry Glen Ross to see just how good his writing can be. Here it actually sounds a bit off. I don't know if it's the delivery, or the writing, let's just say both. Some of the dialogue the characters would spew had me scratching my head in confusion.The action, very little. Only when there needs to be, the rescue is quick and dirty, no car chase sequences out of the city at the last minute. This isn't a Michael Bay film. There are twists and turns, as to be expected with any film that deals with governments, these twists don't come as a surprise. You know there will be cover ups, double crosses and people who aren't who they claim to be. It's all part of the genre. Spartan isn't great, but it's good enough to dedicated 2 hours to. Kilmer plays a more toned down Jack Bauer type character, not showy at all. Kilmer needs to finally put those low rent direct to DVD crappy films behind him and choose roles that will get him back on the map. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was brilliant and I believe that a film like Spartan, might actually help do the trick.