“We must never forget that we are human, and as humans we dream, and when we dream we dream of money.”
In the late ‘90s, teenagers like me had their minds blown almost every week at the movies: Dark City, The Truman Show, The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, Being John Malkovich, The Usual Suspects, Fight Club. These films redefined the viewer’s world either through twist endings or visions of alternate realities pulsing beneath our own. It’s not surprising that the film, which does pull the rug out from under the viewer several times, is typically left out of this era’s canon. It’s not sexy or cool, nor does it aim to be. It’s workmanlike, never flashy. It’s smart and funny but in a sour, cynical way. When teenagers dream, they dream about sex and rebellion. The Spanish Prisoner only dreams about cold, hard cash.
It’s a film about adult problems. Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) is an engineer who has invented an algorithm poised to make his bosses a lot of money. The details are left purposefully and hilariously vague. His invention is called “the process.” His bosses believe it will help them “corner the global market,” but what market that is remains elusive. They are old, rich, white guys, so it could be anything. The omission is fitting in a film where no one ever tells each other the truth. On a business trip to the Caribbean, Ross meets mysterious millionaire Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), who becomes his confidante, promises to set Joe up with his beautiful sister, and then begins voicing concerns that Joe might not be paid what he’s worth by his bosses. Joe is so happy to be mentored by a rich guy that he doesn’t even consider Dell might have an angle of his own.
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