It's a treat to encounter the deadpan light-handedness with which Mamet goes about his business.
83
Entertainment WeeklyTy Burr
Entertainment WeeklyTy Burr
For once, too, David Mamet the director outshines David Mamet the writer.
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Pure David Mamet is an acquired, but delicious, taste.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Mamet's stylized dialogue, elaborate plot puzzles and the angry cleverness of his characterization makes for an invigorating, if not exactly likeable, mix.
The Spanish Prisoner is the smoothest and most convincing of Mamet's elaborate charades and features intriguing performances by Steve Martin and Campbell Scott.
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is fun if you're looking mainly for light entertainment.
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Mamet has to learn to trust the camera more than he does; he has to stop trying to control everything with language; he has to let loose a little and just give in to the fluency, the ease, the free-flowing pleasure of making a movie.
Writer-director David Mamet delights in his own supposed cleverness; he wants you to scratch your head while he manipulates your brain.
50
SalonCharles Taylor
SalonCharles Taylor
The picture is moderately diverting. But it's never much fun.
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
The story of an elaborate con game and the wholesale betrayal of an innocent man, it's also an unusually cold film that ends with a feeling of hollow soullessness.