The Spanish Prisoner
The definition of a confidence trick, or "con", comes from gaining the confidence of your mark with the intent to defraud them of something valuable. But unlike robbery, the art of a con is in convincing the victim to participate in the parting of the object of value, and only potentially discovering the con after the fact, making it a far more insidious, psychologically-harrowing deception. The Spanish Prisoner is a suspense film about Joe Ross (Campbell Scott), a good-natured mathematician and the inventor of a top-secret business "process". Joe meets Julian "Jimmy" Dell (Steve Martin) seemingly by chance during his business trip to the Caribbean. Jimmy is a slick fellow whose acquaintance leads Joe into a new world where trust begins to vanish like a stranger in the crowd.
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What makes The Spanish Prisoner enjoyable comes from the intricacy of its details, the way that subtle things are revisited and callbacks to earlier events that bless the audience an abundance of "a-ha" moments. That said, the challenge in writing about The Spanish Prisoner comes from addressing these merits without revealing those delightful details or surprises awaiting first-time viewers--or even repeat viewers, since The Spanish Prisoner also rewards an audience watching it for a second time, armed with foreknowledge. The film unfolds like a mystery; roughly the first half sets the stage for Joe's life, including his work for his anxious employer, Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara), who dodges the question about what kind of bonus Joe can expect for his development of the "process". Joe is joined by his colleague and lawyer friend, George Lang (Ricky Jay), who speaks in nuggets of wisdom, aphorisms, and metaphors that allude to greater truths about man's greed and nature. Their business meeting on the tropical Caribbean island of St. Estèphe is to pitch a vague proprietary, patent-pending way of making a whole lot of money for Klein's company--a MacGuffin if there ever was one. Joining these men is the new office secretary, Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon), a perky flibbertigibbet who intimates her not too secret crush on Joe, and has a tendency to repeat the obvious several times. Joe's stay on the island might have been normal enough for a luxurious business trip, save for the sudden appearance of Jimmy, whose introduction--as he later puts it--involves a gauche request to purchase Joe's disposable camera from him after he inadvertently took a photograph with him in the background.
The casting of celebrated comedy actor Steve Martin as Jimmy Dell is especially deft, since most audiences would likely identify him with his comic persona. In this dramatic turn, this expectation ever-so-slightly unseats the viewer who is subconsciously expecting some madcap antics only to find none, a facet which enhances Jimmy's unique charisma. Jimmy is a very amiable person; he is kind, although he immodestly describes himself as having a "heart of gold" at one point. He hints to Joe that he is interested in setting him up with his sister, a tennis enthusiast and alternate for the Olympics. Jimmy appears to come from money; Joe crosses paths with him again in New York City after seeing him inside an exclusive Aston Martin dealership of antique cars. When they reunite at his office, Jimmy playfully impresses him by setting up a Swiss bank account for him with his mom's dog's name as a password. Joe describes to Jimmy that he remembers his father always "working all the overtime he could get", and there is a sense of regret in Joe about how his father struggled but never really came out on top. Joe cites that he is a normal guy--an "average Joe"--who has always worked for what he got. But Joe's "process" is itself a sophisticated means to gain a significant advantage over competitors; it is faintly implied to be a dubious or legally gray for Klein and his shareholders to carve out a bigger slice of the market share without putting in much effort. The pitch they make at the beginning of the film is too vague, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever business they're in shouldn't necessitate some kind of scheme that requires a notebook sealed away in a safe behind a fake painting, with Joe and George possessing the only keys. This subtle element germinates a seed of doubt in the audience, speaking to a truism George drunkenly utters one early morning on the island: "We must never forget that we are human, and as humans we dream, and when we dream we dream of money." Joe is a very generous person; he is literally an ex-Boy Scout who is kind enough to share the winnings George gives to him after gambling to upgrade Susan to first-class for her flight back to New York. But Joe is human, and if we give George's inebriated musings any weight, we must acknowledge that even Joe is motivated by a strong work ethic, his intelligence, and even his pride to create an artful and elaborate system for profit. How is that any different than any other confidence trick, in the broadest definition of the word?
Fans of suspense films or--as The Spanish Prisoner has also been described--a "neo-noir" thriller might be surprised to find that the film is completely devoid of foul language. (It seems strange just now to think that this is itself exceptional.) Almost as if done on a dare, writer and director David Mamet has created a film that not only avoids insulting our intelligence (and sensibilities), but focuses our attention by removing profound language that, in its absence, is revealed to be little more than punctuation in other films. This endows characters with a level of civility and amiability, even when they are revealed as deceitful or worse. This also infuses The Spanish Prisoner with an element of suspense found in the works of Alfred Hitchcock. There are similarities between The Spanish Prisoner and Strangers on a Train; both Joe and Jimmy are a bit like Guy and Bruno from the Hitchcock film. Joe is a standup "guy", all-around likable and hard-working, while Jimmy doesn't appear to have to work at all for his lifestyle. They meet as strangers, but due to circumstances, spend a good deal of time with one another; there is even a carousel. Another similarity is the presence of tennis in both movies; metaphorically, the plot of The Spanish Prisoner is like a tennis match...the lobbing expectations back and forth, with plot twists like return volleys. The Spanish Prisoner also came out in the same year as David Fincher's The Game (1997), and is another film which emphasizes suspense motifs found in Hitchcock's films while leading the audience through a labyrinthine plot like a mouse in a maze. A general rule of thumb for The Spanish Prisoner is that if something seems important, it probably is; if something seems unimportant, it is probably even more important. The title is a reference to an old confidence trick, one so successful that many people know it better as the infamous "Nigerian prince" email scheme--invest money now and get a guaranteed windfall later. It's the kind of con that when it's spelled out, you wonder how anyone could fall for it. Human beings are naturally sympathetic creatures, and we want to have confidence in something (or someone). The secret of any good con artist isn't to be smarter than your target, but to have more confidence than them; before you know it, they're giving you their wealth along with their trust, both never to be seen again.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever and sophisticated thriller that is surprising and rewarding on first and repeat viewings. The Spanish Prisoner is a great example of a suspenseful mystery that can be enjoyed by most audiences; it will end up being more entertaining for adults, due to the complex plot and multitude of subtle details that keep intelligent audiences on their toes.
The casting of celebrated comedy actor Steve Martin as Jimmy Dell is especially deft, since most audiences would likely identify him with his comic persona. In this dramatic turn, this expectation ever-so-slightly unseats the viewer who is subconsciously expecting some madcap antics only to find none, a facet which enhances Jimmy's unique charisma. Jimmy is a very amiable person; he is kind, although he immodestly describes himself as having a "heart of gold" at one point. He hints to Joe that he is interested in setting him up with his sister, a tennis enthusiast and alternate for the Olympics. Jimmy appears to come from money; Joe crosses paths with him again in New York City after seeing him inside an exclusive Aston Martin dealership of antique cars. When they reunite at his office, Jimmy playfully impresses him by setting up a Swiss bank account for him with his mom's dog's name as a password. Joe describes to Jimmy that he remembers his father always "working all the overtime he could get", and there is a sense of regret in Joe about how his father struggled but never really came out on top. Joe cites that he is a normal guy--an "average Joe"--who has always worked for what he got. But Joe's "process" is itself a sophisticated means to gain a significant advantage over competitors; it is faintly implied to be a dubious or legally gray for Klein and his shareholders to carve out a bigger slice of the market share without putting in much effort. The pitch they make at the beginning of the film is too vague, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever business they're in shouldn't necessitate some kind of scheme that requires a notebook sealed away in a safe behind a fake painting, with Joe and George possessing the only keys. This subtle element germinates a seed of doubt in the audience, speaking to a truism George drunkenly utters one early morning on the island: "We must never forget that we are human, and as humans we dream, and when we dream we dream of money." Joe is a very generous person; he is literally an ex-Boy Scout who is kind enough to share the winnings George gives to him after gambling to upgrade Susan to first-class for her flight back to New York. But Joe is human, and if we give George's inebriated musings any weight, we must acknowledge that even Joe is motivated by a strong work ethic, his intelligence, and even his pride to create an artful and elaborate system for profit. How is that any different than any other confidence trick, in the broadest definition of the word?
Fans of suspense films or--as The Spanish Prisoner has also been described--a "neo-noir" thriller might be surprised to find that the film is completely devoid of foul language. (It seems strange just now to think that this is itself exceptional.) Almost as if done on a dare, writer and director David Mamet has created a film that not only avoids insulting our intelligence (and sensibilities), but focuses our attention by removing profound language that, in its absence, is revealed to be little more than punctuation in other films. This endows characters with a level of civility and amiability, even when they are revealed as deceitful or worse. This also infuses The Spanish Prisoner with an element of suspense found in the works of Alfred Hitchcock. There are similarities between The Spanish Prisoner and Strangers on a Train; both Joe and Jimmy are a bit like Guy and Bruno from the Hitchcock film. Joe is a standup "guy", all-around likable and hard-working, while Jimmy doesn't appear to have to work at all for his lifestyle. They meet as strangers, but due to circumstances, spend a good deal of time with one another; there is even a carousel. Another similarity is the presence of tennis in both movies; metaphorically, the plot of The Spanish Prisoner is like a tennis match...the lobbing expectations back and forth, with plot twists like return volleys. The Spanish Prisoner also came out in the same year as David Fincher's The Game (1997), and is another film which emphasizes suspense motifs found in Hitchcock's films while leading the audience through a labyrinthine plot like a mouse in a maze. A general rule of thumb for The Spanish Prisoner is that if something seems important, it probably is; if something seems unimportant, it is probably even more important. The title is a reference to an old confidence trick, one so successful that many people know it better as the infamous "Nigerian prince" email scheme--invest money now and get a guaranteed windfall later. It's the kind of con that when it's spelled out, you wonder how anyone could fall for it. Human beings are naturally sympathetic creatures, and we want to have confidence in something (or someone). The secret of any good con artist isn't to be smarter than your target, but to have more confidence than them; before you know it, they're giving you their wealth along with their trust, both never to be seen again.
Recommended for: Fans of a clever and sophisticated thriller that is surprising and rewarding on first and repeat viewings. The Spanish Prisoner is a great example of a suspenseful mystery that can be enjoyed by most audiences; it will end up being more entertaining for adults, due to the complex plot and multitude of subtle details that keep intelligent audiences on their toes.