Spartan review

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David Mamet making an action movie? Surely some mistake. Well, yes; because while this is a gun-totin' espionage tale, the shoot-ups and fisticuffs unsurprisingly take a backseat to Mamet's obsession with psychological game-playing.

Scott (Val Kilmer) is a mysterious US operative - - cold, distant, supremely professional and capable of handling a little light surveillance at home or full-scale military action abroad. But when the President's daughter is kidnapped, Scott begins questioning his bosses' motives - something that removes the only solid point in his flexible world...

Expect 007 and you'll be yawning in the first 15 minutes. Expect something more like a '70s conspiracy thriller (The Parallax View perhaps) and you'll find yourself getting drawn into a satisfying, complex, occasionally exciting and eminently grown-up thriller. In other words, a typical David Mamet movie... Only minus his wife/favourite leading lady, Rebecca Pidgeon. Which has to be a good thing.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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