Film Title
The title of David Mamet's no-frills political thriller is fitting; Spartan describes the austere milieu of the film very well. The movie is atypical Mamet in terms of its sparse dialogue and lack of multiple character studies, yet typical Mamet in terms of its economy, cynicism and fascination with all-things machismo. Val Kilmer, whose enormous ego, according to most reports, sunk one of the most promising careers in Hollywood, ironically plays the opposite of an egoist. Scott (that's the only name we get) is a mysterious agent who does what he's told to do and stops at nothing to complete his mission. He prefers his world to be black and white because that makes his work more palatable. When his latest trainee stumbles on a big gray area during their mission to rescue the president's kidnapped daughter, Scott has to make a choice between doing the right thing and just doing his job.
- July 30, 2008
DVD Extras
All it has is a commentary track by Val Kilmer.