Spartan Movie

Spartan
Rating:
Run Time: 106 min
MPAA Rating: R
Released: 2004
Directors: David Mamet
Genre/Type: Thriller
Political Thriller
Producers: Moshe Diamant
Art Linson
Elie Samaha
David Bergstein
Plot Synopsis by Andrea LeVasseur
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 daughter 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.

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Spartan is a theatre company based in Glasgow, Scotland. They exist to promote excellent story telling through the medium of theatre and use the technique of Practical Aesthetics, which they learned in New York City. Spartan runs workshops...
･ 1 Build the front piece for the helmet. Look for pictures from the movie "300" for inspiration and draw... ･ 2 Make the helmet "hat." Take a tape measure and measure the crown of your head. Using a strip of cardboard.....
No, he was a Myrmidon. But the Myrmidons were allied with the Spartans, so, sort of.
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Val Kilmer Robert Scott Dec 31, 1959 in Los Angeles, CA
Derek Luke Curtis Apr 24, 1974 in Jersey City, NJ
William H. Macy Stoddard Mar 13, 1950 in Miami, FL
Ed O'Neill Burch Apr 12, 1946 in Youngstown, OH
Kristen Bell Laura Newton Jul 18, 1980 in Detroit, MI
Tia Texada Jackie Black
Saïd Taghmaoui Tariq Asani
Linda Kimbrough Donny
J.J. Perry Bodyguard #2
Renato Magno Grossler
Sophia Luke Agent
Dick Friedman Crew Chief
Virginia Pereira TV Anchor Woman
Clara Mamet Billy's Daughter
Zosia Mamet Bedouin Woman
Jennifer Ritchkoff Marine Captain
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Back to the topReview

Review by Elbert Ventura
The conspiracy thriller gets the David Mamet treatment in Spartan, an austere actioner with an unexpectedly subversive agenda. The first two-thirds of the movie details the efforts of a team of investigators to track down the kidnapped first daughter. Robert Scott (Val Kilmer), a top special-operations agent, takes the lead in the convoluted chase, which eventually leads to a sex-slavery ring in the Middle East. A late twist, however, reveals a larger conspiracy at work, forcing Scott to confront the competing calls of duty and moral responsibility. The spare title is paradoxically rich, suggestive at once of Mamet's ascetic style, the militarism being critiqued, and the ancient forebears of Scott's self-abnegating hero. Recalling the paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, Spartan takes place in a hermetic world seemingly run by forces beyond our control. As with other Mamet movies, the stylized line readings and aversion to naturalism take some getting used to, but they are crucial to Mamet's efforts to nudge the movie into the abstract. The alienation effect is only heightened by Mamet's dialogue, a catchy mélange of intelligence argot, cryptic aphorisms, and hypnotic mantras. ("Where's the girl?" is one such recurring line.) Perhaps the movie's most surprising aspect is its trenchant political commentary. Implausible as its plot may be, its resolution bears disturbing resemblance to current events, making Spartan as relevant as it is gripping.
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