Spartan (2004)

The conspiracy thriller gets the David Mamet treatment in Spartan, an austere actioner with an unexpectedly subversive agenda. The first two-thirds of the movie details the efforts of a team of investigators to track down the kidnapped first daughter. Robert Scott (Val Kilmer), a top special-operations agent, takes the lead in the convoluted chase, which eventually leads to a sex-slavery ring in the Middle East. A late twist, however, reveals a larger conspiracy at work, forcing Scott to confront the competing calls of duty and moral responsibility. The spare title is paradoxically rich, suggestive at once of Mamet's ascetic style, the militarism being critiqued, and the ancient forebears of Scott's self-abnegating hero. Recalling the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, Spartan takes place in a hermetic world seemingly run by forces beyond our control. As with other Mamet movies, the stylized line readings and aversion to naturalism take some getting used to, but they are crucial to Mamet's efforts to nudge the movie into the abstract. The alienation effect is only heightened by Mamet's dialogue, a catchy mélange of intelligence argot, cryptic aphorisms, and hypnotic mantras. ("Where's the girl?" is one such recurring line.) Perhaps the movie's most surprising aspect is its trenchant political commentary. Implausible as its plot may be, its resolution bears disturbing resemblance to current events, making Spartan as relevant as it is gripping. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide