1997, 1 hr 50 min., Rated PG. Dir: David Mamet. Cast: Campbell Scott (Joe Ross), Rebecca Pidgeon (Susan Ricci), Steve Martin (Jimmy Dell), George Lang (Ricky Jay).

If you enjoy good movies with roundabout plots and several twists and turns to keep you on your toes, but the end has a hole big enough to throw a herd of elephants in, then The Spanish Prisoner is for you; I know I got a kick out of it.

There's not much action, you've likely never heard of the main actor or the actress, but that's okay. Steve Martin is not hamming it up, in fact he's quite refreshing as the questionable new associate of Joe Ross (Scott), who's developed a new process that will make his company rich beyond their dreams. The trouble is, he doesn't realize just how valuable his invention is and walks through the movie sadly naive.

The movie doesn't take place anywhere near Spain, nor in a prison; the title refers to a classic scam. And you never know exactly who to trust. Which reminds me of one of my favorites, Sneakers, a movie I enjoyed more, but for different reasons.

Susan Ricci (Pidgeon-the director's wife) is a secretary for the company-which is never specified as to what it does-who accompanies Ross and friend/company lawyer George Lange (Jay) to the Caribbean for a business jaunt and relaxation. She has eyes for Joe, not very subtlely either, and is very annoying throughout the picture. But that's acting. Unless Pidgeon's really that annoying, then I'll run away, no matter how cute.

Martin does the best job, and picks up the film every minute on-screen. I'm not the biggest fan of Martin in his comedy days, I think The Jerk is a terrible film, the majority of his Saturday Night Live skits don't make me laugh, but in The Spanish Prisoner he was excellent.

The ending is highly satisfying, because everyone wants to see the bad guys get their due, but how it comes about left me confused (hence the aforementioned elephants) but still content that the story was resolved.