Just saw Spartan, David Mamet’s new film starring Val Kilmer. It totally took me by surprise — not only the movie, but the fact it even existed. It completely flew under my radar.

I’m glad I saw it — very cerebral, Tom Clancy-esque thriller with all the usual Mamet twists and turns and double cross. Kilmer’s everyman superhero is fun to watch, to me he embues a personality that sometimes escapes Mamet leading men (like Campbell Scott in spanish prisoner — a tad wooden, don’tchathink?).

I think there were more twists in this one than Heist and Spanish Prisoner combined — practically every scene is loaded with a surprise. What’s interesting though is that the central message of the film, if there is one, isn’t the usual “You Can’t Trust Anyone” that seems to result from all the double crosses. There’s a resonating theme of the reward of loyalty and truthfulness. Valor, or Val-or. Sure, it’s undercut by the never ending cycle of backstabbers, but the few who stay true are the heroes of the film.

Go see it, wait out the first 15 minutes or so until your brain wraps around the dialogue and plot, and enjoy…