DREAMING OF MONEY

by John M. Floyd

For me, one of life’s pleasures is discovering a piece of fiction that has been around awhile but that I somehow never noticed. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s usually been as a result of the columns and comments posted at this blog. Several dozen stories and novels and movies and authors that I heard of here have gone into my little notebook, and little by little I’m finding and enjoying them.

One of those that I did not find out about here is a movie called The Spanish Prisoner, written and directed by David Mamet in 1997 and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, and Ben Gazzara. For some reason it didn’t make many waves when it came out, and the first I heard of it was from a business colleague years afterward. Since then I’ve watched it many times.

What did I like about it?

Well, for one thing, it’s one of those delicious mysteries that plant a lot of seemingly useless information early and then dish up more twists and turns than any half-dozen other stories put together. Besides that, it features a number of outstanding performances from actors that (except for Martin and Gazzara) were relatively unknown at the time.

But maybe the best thing about it is the pacing, driven mostly by Mamet’s on-target dialogue and direction. Even though there’s none of the action that mystery/crime fans are so used to seeing — not a single shot is fired, and the film’s only murder occurs offscreen — the suspense builds steadily and effectively from start to finish. We all know how hard it is to make a viewer or reader feel the fear and frustration of a lead character in trouble, but Mamet accomplishes that. And, as in all good stories, everyone’s motivation is clearly defined. It can even be summed up, in a line by one of the characters: “We must never forget that we are human, and as humans we dream, and when we dream we dream of money.”

All this is reinforced by Carter Burwell’s haunting score, which does a great job of enhancing the tension and anticipation. Even the title is suitably mysterious (and I love that kind of thing): “The Spanish Prisoner” refers to an ancient confidence game, a fact revealed to the main character by an FBI agent just before one of the story’s biggest turning points.

Questions

The only thing about the film that was a little irritating to me was the lead character himself, played by Scott. I didn’t like him much — his mannerisms, etc. — but that wasn’t enough to keep me from liking this movie. I thought Pidgeon (David Mamet’s wife in real life) was wonderful, Gazzara and Ricky Jay were both excellent as always, and Steve Martin was surprisingly believable in his role as both a rich playboy and a sleazy con-man. NOTE: I have observed many times that, for some strange reason, comedians and musicians seem to make good dramatic actors. Why is that?

Did anyone else see this movie, by the way? Did any of you like it? Did anyone discover it late, the way I did?

The script’s the thing

A few months ago I did a column on Glengarry Glen Ross, another wonderful film written by Mamet, and I’m intrigued by the fact that two such vastly different stories were written by the same person. There are similarities, yes, but not many. The common denominator is just good writing. (By the way, I must take back an observation I made earlier: one shot is fired — but the supposedly deadly bullet turns out to be a tranquilizer dart. That’s typical of the surprises you’ll find in this film.)

So that’s my pitch, this week. If you’re ever in the mood for an intelligent, rollercoaster-ride suspense movie, bop on down to Blockbuster and pick up The Spanish Prisoner. And here’s a challenge, from one mystery lover to another . . .

As you watch it, try to figure out the ending. Just try.