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Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, William H. Macy, Ed O'Neill, Kristen Bell ... see more see more... , Tia Texada , Said Taghmaoui , Linda Kimbrough , Robert Bella , Chino Binamo , Ron Butler , Norm Compton , Steven Culp , Jim Frangione , Clark Gregg , Stephen Greif , Vincent Guastaferro , Michael Hilow , Moshe Ivgi , J.J. Johnston , Chris Kaldor , Matt Malloy , Tony Mamet , Debbie Martin , Mark Pellegrino , Neil Pepe , Geoffrey Pierson , Gail Silver , Lionel Mark Smith , Bob A. Jennings , Al Faris , Roberto Castro Jr. , Andrew Davoli , Ken Moreno , Natalija Nogulich , Aaron Stanford , Max Daniels , Damon Caro , Johnny Messner , Ann Morgan , Kick Gurry , J.J. Perry , Sandra Lilly Lindquist , Alexandra Kerry , Jeremie Campbell , Chris J. Lacentra , Renato Magno , Mark Fitzgerald , Lana Bilzerian , Sophia Adella Luke , Margot Farley , Dr. Rick Levy , Dan Hovanesian , Mordechai Finley , Jonathan Rossetti , Scott Barry , Dick Friedman , David Aranovich , Jody Snider , Virginia Pereira , Morris Lamore , Clara Mamet , Deborah Bartlett , Ektimal Shbib , Zosia Mamet , Steve Martinez , Tim Fleming , Marc Allen Barker , Chelle Cerceo , Jennifer Ritchkoff , Bob Jennings

David Mamet writes and directs the political thriller Spartan. Respected Secret Service agent Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to the kidnapping case of Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), the missing d... read more read more...aughter of a high-ranking political figure. Scott is teamed up with rookie Curtis (Derek Luke). Aided by the FBI and the CIA, the team discovers a human trafficking operation that may lead to Laura's kidnappers. Meanwhile, political operative Stoddard (William H. Macy) refuses to cooperate with the rescue mission. Scott and Curtis are forced to quit the investigation when the media reports Laura's death. Believing her to be alive, Curtis is motivated to start up a dangerous unofficial investigation of his own. Spartan premiered at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Flixster Users

59% liked it

12,940 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

133 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: David Mamet

Release Date: March 12, 2004

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DVD Release Date: June 15, 2004

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Flixster Reviews (814)

  • FiLmCrAzY
    April 1, 2011
    FiLmCrAzY
    not a very good movie at all.
    Its confusing and then when you understand the story you realise that the storyline is weak and boring and very flawed.
    Its a weak plot and William H Macy does not have a big enough part!
  • briandeguelle
    November 1, 2009
    briandeguelle
    Solid action adventure with val kilmer.This being hes last big screen film before driving into direct to video trash!!This is gripping to the end with excellant performance thru out.
    Worth checking out.
  • ironclad1609
    June 14, 2009
    ironclad1609
    The beginning is nothing but confusion. Sure, the agent Val Kilmer is playing is introduced while training recruits and then gets thrown into his most dangerous case. From here on the audience is introduced to a lot of nameless characters doing a lot of random things until things... read more finally get a little clearer and we learn that the agent has to find the president's hijacked daughter. From here on the plot takes quite a few turns and it's impossible to say where the movie is going next, which adds to the confusion but also keeps it at a very entertaining level. Val Kilmer is a convincing loner, William H. Macy is hopelessly underused and all minor characters don't live long enough to be even mourned. In the end that makes for a decent action thriller, which could have been even better with a straighter outline and a little more care for the side characters. But still, fans of the genre should be satisfied.
  • fb619846742
    October 1, 2008
    fb619846742
    Way to convulted, and Kilmer's transformation into a Chuck Norris one man wrecking crew isn't entirely believable. I liked Kilmer's character at first, but his biting and sarcastic tone didn't fly when things got pretty tense. A stronger dose of supporting actors (namely Ed O'Nei... read morell) would've made this a little more balanced, but in the end, its pretty unbalanced and the ending was unfitting.
  • DrZeek
    September 9, 2008
    DrZeek
    Scott: In the city there is always a reflection, in the woods always a sound.
    Curtis: What about the desert?
    Scott: You don't wanna go to the desert.

    A thriller involving a special agent assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of the president, written and directed by snappy, t... read moreo-the-point dialog driven playwright David Mamet.

    This means that there is a lot of real dialog spoken without a minute to lose as well as lots of twists and turns. The way people talk is the way they are supposed, without giving exact meanings to certain phrases directly to audiences, its also very vulgar at times for no real reason except to give it a more macho feel. This can confuse some or make others more engaged.

    The movie centers around Val Kilmer's character, Agent Scott, and he does a good job as a special agent of some sort, who works for the government and takes this matter into his hands. Derek Luke also joins him, helping him out along the way.

    Scott: You need to set your motherfucker to "receive".

    Rounding out the cast, you have Ed O'Neill and William H. Macy to keep things interesting, as well as other recognizable faces from other Mamet flicks.

    Scott: Honey, you got all the slack in the world until I leave this room. Then I'm gonna zero you out.

    The movie is full of twist and turns, a couple cool action scenes and gun play. Mamet specializes in stories focusing on variations of con games, so this is basically like a political thriller version of that, and it's very entertaining.

    Scott: The smell of American cigarettes flows through the air out here. That's why you never go to the desert.
  • kiriyamakazou
    July 5, 2008
    kiriyamakazou
    Like any Mamet film it's wonderfully scripted and paced. Unfortunately it isn't anything new. Kilmer is great but he keeps managing to obtain sidekicks that last a little while, serve some purpose and then get killed. It's a little formula that becomes little comedic in an otherw... read moreise serious film. The DVD box also ruined the twist, but it wasn't much of a twist in the first place.
  • allan913
    May 22, 2008
    allan913
    A supreme, very fast-paced and intellingent razor-sharp thriller. It packs on smarts and suspense perfectly. Val Kilmer is magnificent, crafting one of his best perfromances, playing a character who is dedicated to what he does and does not ask questions. Director/Writer. David M... read moreamet knows how to craft a story and it's characters well. A wickedly entertaining film with great twist, great characters and action. I's terifficly written and superbly directed.
  • kenstachnik
    January 18, 2008
    kenstachnik
    I've always been a huge fan of both Kilmer & Mamet's work and they are both in top form here.

    A delightfully complex film that never quite pans out the way you think it will.

    Worth it just for the line.
    "Set your mother fucker to receive!"
  • michaelneumann
    December 1, 2004
    michaelneumann
    I don't often share info about myself in this journal, but I go through my phases. You are privileged, readers, for you are experiencing one of them!


    My holiday weekend was kooky, but mostly good. But, kooky all the same. Here are some highlights:
    ... read more
    **Thanksgiving happened twice. Once at each parent's house. My stomach felt stretched on a mangle rack, and still hasn't forgiven me. My taste buds were lulled to sleep after that final glass of wine.

    **Went to a comedy show on Friday. 90 minutes of straight, hearty laughter. Comedians are therapists. So good, man. I was laughing so hard, the rest of the world was convulsing with me. Some people turn their laughter into a full-bodied performance, too! I thought a few would combust on the spot, letting out the shrill cry of their demise (just to scratch the surface of how annoying some laughs can be). Still, one might think that the laughing all throughout the room would suck the air up completely. I was too busy laughing to think, only focusing on swallowing my next breath and how I could cycle it through my system to keep the laughs a-flowin' comfortably ('cause sometimes I laughed so hard I stopped, as if I ran out). Unbelievable. I must try this again.

    **The Mom figure scored two DVD's for a buck each (neither of which I've seen, but will see soon): 'The Royal Wedding' (1951) and 'The Last Man On Earth' (1964). :up:

    **Saw the Spongebob film with my two most favorite moviegoing companions: my little bro & little sis (they tend to agree with all my opinions ;)). The movie was pretty much an episode stretched thrice as long as usual, hampered by some tiresome "requisite" story devices, and blown to silly proportions by returning to its usual self. The movie was upped a notch with its ending (which I may sometimes deem as "brilliant," depending on my mood). :fresh:

    **I am a sports fan. More specifically, I am a football fan. Even more specifically, I am a fan of my alma mater's football team. U of Colorado thumped Nebraska this past weekend to enter the Big 12 Title game next week against dreaded Oklahoma (ahyuck!). Yep, you guys don't care, but I do. :p

    **'Zoolander' moment of the week: My friends can often be unoriginal and want to hang at clubs and crap. So, since I never see these guys, I buckled down and went to a club. And I found myself being cajoled into a dance-off. A [i]dance-off! [/i](This was probably the next most hilarious event of the weekend behind the comedy show. And maybe that one guy who slipped on the ice in front of the department store). I didn't even care to be doing it, but I was somehow pitted against the guy who does "the loose robot" (shrug). But yeah, he would dance some move, and then point to me, like we were in the "Beat It" video. Oy. Hey, what else could I do? I danced, dammit. And I beat the sucker (only indicated when he came up to me and told me "You done good." OMG! The Loose Robot told me I "done good"!!!). My dream of defeating the mighty Loose Robot at the club is now fulfilled. You may kiss my dance sneakers.

    **Last week, at a Mexican restaurant where 15 of my co-workers & I were lunching, a manager staged a 'fake birthday' gag on me. Sometime in the middle of my third quesadilla, strange people wearing employee outfits were singing and smothering my head with hat (sneaky devils! I think I was chewing too loud to hear them coming). So, I wore the sombrero for the remainder of the day at work. And, as a result, I vowed to wear hats every Friday at work. All of this is a preface to me bringing with me a legion of my bestest hats with me back to Cali, including my fez, my panama hat, my plaid fedora, and my 3 foot long santa hat. Hat revolution commence!

    **Had Thai. Fantastic.

    **Had pie. Fantastic.

    **Snowed 8 inches. Fantastic.

    **Slept in. Fantastic.

    **Beard approved by the Mom figure. Fantastic.


    [img]http://www.virtual-impact.ca/images/dance-snoopy2.gif[/img]
    [size=1]"Do the 'Loose Robot', Snoopy!"[/size]



    Some other strange, unpleasant, and somewhat bizarre things also happened. Those I keep for myself. *swallows key*


    Everybody else enjoy your weekend?
  • nadyajoensen
    May 15, 2010
    nadyajoensen
    It has been a very long time since I last watched a Val Kilmer movie, I really love his movies. This movie has Val Kilmer in the main part as this special investigator. The President's daughter has mysteriously dissappeared and the investigator has to find out where she is locate... read mored and how to get her back. As he dives in to the case he discovers that there's more to the story. This movie was very thrilling and it had some nice twists. Val Kilmer was great as always.

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Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer
August 7, 2004
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

The real violence, as is always the case with Mamet, lies not in the mayhem but in the thrusting rhythms of the dialogue. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
March 25, 2004
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Both technically accomplished and moderately entertaining. Full Review

Stanley Kauffmann
March 21, 2004
Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic

Mamet's understanding of the essentials here and his skill in supplying them are not major achievements for him, but it would be wasteful not to recognize them.

Stephanie Zacharek
March 21, 2004
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

Spartan is the same old stuff, but now it's been thoroughly Mametized, like a spray-on treatment you could spritz out of a can. Full Review

Rex Reed
March 18, 2004
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Not one character makes sense, there is no shred of craft, and the script sounds like it was written by a 6-year-old who has accidentally swallowed a microchip. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
March 12, 2004
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

Is Spartan a perfect, or even a great, movie? Probably not. But in its prickly irascibility and deeply unsettling intelligence, it makes for a very, very good one.

Desson Thomson
March 12, 2004
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Until its final stumble, this intelligence thriller ... is charged with brilliance.

Peter Howell
March 12, 2004
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Despite its many failings, Spartan is better than most of what passes for thrillers down at the multiplex. Full Review

David Edelstein
March 12, 2004
David Edelstein, Slate

The first hour of Spartan can make you sick with dread, like the first season of the TV series 24 ... The last half-hour of Spartan is still entertaining, but it's laughable. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
March 12, 2004
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

A cold piece, mechanistic and only intermittently involving. Full Review

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Spartan Trivia

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