‘Spartan’ effort typical first-rate Mamet fare

JOHN DEPKO

David Mamet has been the writer or director of many successful plays

and films. “The Verdict,” “The Untouchables” and “The Spanish

Prisoner” are examples of his mainstream work for Hollywood. But his

smaller, more intense efforts, like “Glengarry Glen Ross” and the

strange “House of Games,” are where his gritty characters and offbeat

stories really shine. His anti-heroes always seem to inhabit an

elusive netherworld beyond ordinary life that only Mamet knows how to

penetrate.

Val Kilmer plays the deep undercover CIA agent who is the

“Spartan” at the center of this taut tale of intrigue and subterfuge.

The president’s daughter has been kidnapped from her college by

members of a white slavery ring who may not know who their hostage

really is. Agents at the highest levels of government pull Kilmer

into a seemingly straightforward rescue mission to save her. In

typical Mamet fashion, this simple premise for a political thriller

becomes a convoluted spy story within a con game within a double

cross with many more twists and turns to come before the whole truth

is finally revealed.

In the hands of a lesser director, this complex plot could end up

a fantastic and forgettable action adventure flick. But Mamet creates

a realistic alternative universe with current political overtones

that render the situations on the screen plausible beyond their bare

facts. William H. Macy, Derek Luke and the other supporting actors

lend credence to the ongoing conspiracy with their sharp-edged

performances. Sinister music, cinematography and myriad unforeseen

events keep the suspense always alive and omnipresent. But it’s the

guiding hand of the writer and director that makes the whole

enterprise work. A cut above the average cloak and dagger thriller,

“Spartan” is Mamet at the top of his game.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.