Spartan
Director: David Mamet
Year Released: 2004
Rating: 2.0
Two thirds of a good, stick-with-the-basics action movie (with one of those familiar action movie plots) - in this case, super-assassin Val Kilmer has to save the President's daughter from an international sex slavery scandal. Kilmer's actually on top of his game in a good comeback performance (his last few roles have left much to be desired) and Mamet comes up with a few neat details to sprinkle about (his hardboiled detective dialogue is probably funnier than he means it to be), but like Heist, the movie falls apart in the last third when it tries to outthink and one-up itself by throwing in one twist and contrivance too many.
