Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Okay... wait a minute. How many goddamn movies are coming out next year that have to do with a Secret Service agent and the President’s daughter? And who do I have to blow to guarantee that no more get made?
Smilin’ Jack Ruby over at CHUD says that this is one of the two films he is anticipating most for 2004 (along with HELLBOY). After reading this review, I can’t imagine what’s got him so worked up.
Harry, Mori:
ZeMightyJedd here. You might remember me from such past reviews as Solaris, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Last night in Santa Monica I caught the very first screening ever of the new David Mamet film Spartan, starring Val Kilmer. NOTE: Some large spoilers below.
This was the first test screening, and is therefore not a finished product, yada yada blah blah. It seemed pretty finished to me, but it was probably missing some music. Truth be told, it’s a really good thing that they still have time to save this flick, because this movie needs a LOT of work. I am definitely a David Mamet fan—I LOVE House of Games, as well as Heist and The Spanish Prisoner. However, he may have shot himself in the foot with this one.
Quick plot rundown: Val Kilmer stars as Scott, a high ranking Secret Service operative who assists in the training of young recruits and is occasionally called on to perform top-secret missions for the Service and/or the U.S. military. When the President’s daughter suddenly goes missing from Harvard University, and the Secret Service is at a total loss to locate her, Kilmer is called in to take names and kick some ass. There are several suspects along the way—the boyfriend, the secret lover, the failed Secret Service Agent. As is usual, Mamet supplies many unexpected twists and turns. The investigation eventually leads to a Middle-Eastern slavery ring, where young girls are sold as sex slaves overseas.
The early investigation scenes are awesome. Kilmer proves once again to be a total chameleon, this time playing a hard-as-nails badassmotherfucker. Example: while roughing up a suspect, Kilmer hurts the man’s arm. The man screams, “You broke my arm!” Kilmer immediately cracks the man’s arm over the side of a dumpster and calmly states, “Now it’s broken.” (Note: while such lines might have been groan inducing from a lesser actor, Kilmer made our entire audience cheer with his mixture of toughness and sarcasm.)
Derek Luke and Tia Texada co-star as Secret Service trainees who are brought aboard at different times by Kilmer to assist in his mission. Derek Luke continues to impress—he is really, really good; expect even greater things from him in the future. Texada is kinda lame, but I blame Mamet, who supplies her with some really weak, clichéd dialogue. Ed O’Neil and William H. Macy also co-star as high ranking government agents who might be hiding information from Kilmer. They are both awesome. When William H. Macy first appears on screen, Mamet presents him in such an iconic way as to cause the audience to cheer (no joke—when the camera pans up and reveals Macy for the first time, everyone exploded in applause).
Sounds like I enjoyed the movie, right? Well, I did, up until the last third of the movie, beginning with the outrageously bad scene where Kilmer speaks with a female Secret Service agent who claims to love the First Daughter more than the President or the First Lady (“She’s my daughter! I raised her!”). This terrible scene leads Kilmer on a solo mission to Dubai to locate the First Daughter. With these scenes, Mamet’s dialogue suddenly changes from cool and intelligent to corny and downright laughable. It’s almost like he totally gave up midway through the screenplay and let some soap opera hack write the rest of the movie. I’m serious—the audience was laughing or groaning loudly throughout these meant-to-be tense and serious scenes, and several people even shouted “Give me a break!” at the screen.
Worst line ever (spoken by Kilmer after the First Daughter requests a cigarette): “American tobacco travels in the desert air. That’s why you never want to be in the desert.” Seriously, if you think this line sounds bad now, try hearing it in the context of the movie. Unforgivable. Also, all of the scenes with the First Daughter (Kristin Bell) are AWFUL. Once again, I cannot bring myself to blame Bell—Mamet just messes the whole thing up with his horrendous dialogue and plot choices. The script calls for the First Daughter to do some utterly ridiculous things (like when she tries to seduce Kilmer while they are hiding in a motel room or when she just sits and stares at Kilmer instead of helping him aboard a helicopter).
I am serious—Mamet just drops the ball. You can see how he had some decent ideas, such as the corruption and perversion inherent in our political system. I also liked his point that some politicians favor their careers over their families (I used to live and work in politics in Washington, DC, so I KNOW this to be true). However, Mamet’s execution becomes horrendous as the movie goes on, and his themes get lost in his hackneyed dialogue.
I really don’t want to go on too much further, but I do think that this is one of those rare exceptions where the test screening process can possibly save a movie. The plot is excellent, and the film is full of great action sequences, excellent pacing, constant tension, and fine performances. However, certain scenes MUST BE changed or completely removed in order for this film to avoid becoming a blunder. As I’ve written, the first two thirds are excellent; it’s the end that falls into disarray.
Here’s hoping Mamet pulls it off.
ZeMightyJedd
I dunno... to me, this sounds like a great big whatever. I’ve got mixed feelings about Mamet as a filmmaker, and this doesn’t sound like one of the ones that is going to make me like him.
"Moriarty" out.
