The Spanish Prisoner

avid Mamet has intelligent fun with this one. Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) is a diligent corporate employee who thinks he knows how to keep a secret, in this case a mystery volume that contains an unexplained “process.” But temptation lurks in the form of strange seductress Susan Ricci (Rebecca Pidgeon) and millionaire Jimmy Dell (a gloriously out-of-character Steve Martin). Both are fooling him into betrayal, or are they? This is a story about urban espionage that Mamet manipulates into an incandescent array of Chinese boxes. Scott’s paranoia grows in proportion to laconic looks from Pidgeon and Martin. The tripwire climax is pure playful Mamet. Nice turn by Ben Gazzara as Mr. Klein. Hypnotic soundtrack from Carter Burwell.