Spartan 2004

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: The first great movie of 2004. Read more

Erik Lundegaard, Seattle Times: Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: Like Heist, Spartan includes its share of twists and doublecrosses, but it's so effective in immersing you in its dimly lit, claustrophobic world that you don't sit outside the action pondering how Mamet is trying to con you. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... I think the cast universally does a wonderful job. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Yes, there are machine guns, helicopters and car chases. But Mamet's inimitable rhythms and his taste for particularized lingo give the action stuff a certain personality. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: When Spartan is good, it's surprisingly gripping and fresh, and when it's bad, it's just another overcooked Hollywood paranoid thriller. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Like many of the works he directs, Spartan does not feel like Mamet at the top of his game. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Though it's not up to his best work, it's a worthy addition to Mamet's oeuvre. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Like many political thrillers, there is a pervasive paranoia at work here. Only this psychosis feels old, not interesting. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Mamet's gamesmanship was more fun when it was less eager to look important. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The non-conformist has conformed, giving us a movie little different in impact from those many other Hollywood thrillers out there -- the kind that start out really strong only to wind up weak and wonky. Read more

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News: With the intelligent, stripped-down Spartan, Mr. Mamet demonstrates that he can take something as staid as the political thriller and make it work on his own terms and vice versa. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: [Mamet] can stage action scenes as muscular as all the Hollywood big boys now, and he can come up with concepts just as loony as theirs, too. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: For all its narrative flair, Spartan ends up as just another chance for Mamet to show off his tennis-ace virtuosity with speech and atmosphere within the boundaries of a standardized movie genre. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: The real violence, as is always the case with Mamet, lies not in the mayhem but in the thrusting rhythms of the dialogue. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: This isn't a genuine Mamet thriller, but a cheap copy. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Mamet's normally dead-on cynicism is wildly off the mark. Read more

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. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Both technically accomplished and moderately entertaining. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Starts out promisingly, but quickly sinks under the weight of its own plot twists, ponderous pacing and Val Kilmer's monotonous performance as a ruthless special-ops agent. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: David Mamet's political thriller manages the difficult trick of being both logically meticulous and genuinely surprising. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Good film. Very good. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: An entertainingly over-the-top tale of good, evil, sex, and betrayal. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The particular pleasure of Spartan is to watch the characters gradually define themselves and the plot gradually emerge like your face in a steamy mirror. Read more

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. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A cold piece, mechanistic and only intermittently involving. Read more

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. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Mamet creates a narrative so complex that it's scarcely worth the effort to unravel it. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Despite its many failings, Spartan is better than most of what passes for thrillers down at the multiplex. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: Mamet's sometimes confusing latest effort is a lot of gradual buildup to a payoff that falls short. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Will intrigue only those interested in the nooks and crannies of Mamet's career. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: By despairing of the military or intelligence communities rather than heroizing them, Mamet is quietly bucking the system. Read more