Spartan

A tense, tightly paced political action-thriller with provocatively elusive twists, Spartan is Tom Clancy without the pop-literature pretense, or 24 for those who like more of a cerebral challenge (intellect trumps exposition to the point that most of the characters aren't clearly identified, making all of them seem more shadowy and dangerous). The story follows a terse Secret Service operative (Val Kilmer) trying to locate and rescue the missing--likely abducted--First Daughter of the United States. Writer-director David Mamet counts on your ability to think for yourself and draw your own conclusions about evidence trails, incidents, alibis, and motives, but more than once he pulls those conclusions out from under you as the mission gets messy, rescue plans go hideously wrong, and trickles of new information send the investigation in unexpected directions. Despite its smarts, Spartan remains--at heart--a conventional conspiracy seat-gripper, but its palpable atmosphere of pressure-cooker urgency and its disquieting sense of black-ops authenticity (no Boy Scouts here!) give it an edge rarely seen in the espionage genre--even if the finale is a bit of a pedestrian comedown. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by costar Val Kilmer and a trailer. Bottom line: a small extras package for a solid cerebral thriller.] (R. Blackwelder)