History Film / TheSpanishPrisoner

* FailedASpotCheck: Dell duped Joe in several occasions without latter noticing anything wrong.

* FiveFiveFive
* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon. Joe holds the IdiotBall when touching the knife his lawyer friend was killed with.

* IdiotBall: Joe. He never browses the Red Book while waiting for Dell. Not once the whole time does he crack it open (even though in the opening scenes we see him furiously writing while on a work-vacation). Later he's got a ticket to Venezuela, and never once bothers to look at it. He has a cloth bag that is supposed to contain a camera; instead it has a handgun. He does not notice the difference. His lawyer friend is murdered and he immediately pats down the blood stain, leaves his glasses behind and [[BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon touches the murder weapon]].

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon. Joe holds the IdiotBall when touching the knife his friend was killed with.

* TitleDrop

* FailedASpotCheck: Dell duped Joe in several occasions without latter never noticing anything.

* IronicEcho: The line about going to Venezuela "because they have no extradition treaty".

* OutGambitted: The plotters had a brilliantly detailed and multi-layered plan to get ahold of the process and leave Joe to take the fall. In the end [[spoiler: the Feds were watching them the entire time and were just letting them proceed to gather evidence.]]
* PlotBasedVoiceCancellation: This is used to prevent the audience from ever learning [[spoiler:where [[MacGuffin the process]] was hidden]]. Oddly enough, though, the line shows up clearly in the subtitles.

* PlayingAgainstType: Steve Martin not only starring in a drama, but playing the villain.

* ItWasHereISwear: [[spoiler: Joe leads authorities to Jimmy's "office" which is empty.]]

''' ''The Spanish Prisoner'' ''' is a suspense/crime/mystery film written and directed by Creator/DavidMamet. It revolves around Joe Ross, a researcher for an unnamed major company who's recently perfected an unspecified process which is worth a great deal of money. While on a business trip in the Caribbean, he meets and befriends a wealthy traveller who offers to advise him and help him get a fair share of the profits. Shortly, however, he begins to question his new friend's motives and intentions. As in most Mamet stories, deceptions and cons pile up as both the protagonist and the audience try to figure out who's telling the truth, and who's part of a plot.

* CastAgainstType: Steve Martin not only starring in a drama, but playing the villain.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:In multiple scenes throughout the movie, there are Japanese tourists in the background taking pictures. Everyone ignores them, in the end they turn out to be Federal Marshals who were following the whole plot.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on, Joe sees a boat moving from a seaplane towards the shore. Susan points out that he never actually saw the boat leave the plane, it could have been coming from anywhere "and we have no idea who anyone is."

** [[spoiler: Then subverted when we find out that Federal agents were following the case from the beginning.]]

* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Stuck on a boat with a man about to shoot him, Joe appeals to the other people around - the ubiquitous Japanese tourists. They immediately subdue the villains and reveal they are actually U.S. Marshals.]]

''' ''The Spanish Prisoner'' ''' is a suspense/crime/mystery film written and directed by Creator/DavidMamet. It revolves around Joe Ross, a researcher for an unnamed major company who's recently perfected an unspecified process which is worth a great deal of money. While on a business trip in the caribbean, he meets and befriends a wealthy traveller who offers to advise him and help him get a fair share of the profits. Shortly, however, he begins to question his new friend's motives and intentions. As in most Mamet stories, deceptions and cons pile up as both the protagonist and the audience try to figure out who's telling the truth, and who's part of a plot.

* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Stuck on a boat with a man about to shoot him, Joe appeals to the other people around - the ubiquitous Japanese tourists. They immediately subdue the villains and reveal they are in actuality U.S. Marshals.]]

* UndercoverCopReveal: [[spoiler: Joe is saved at the end by Japanese tourists who are in actuality U.S. Marshals.]]

* [[Main/IncurableCoughOfDeath Chekhov's Caugh]]: Joe's best friend, a lawyer, gets a cold that follows him throughout the movie. Subverted when [[spoiler: he is found stabbed to death in the second act]]

* Foreshadowing: Early on, Joe sees a boat moving from a seaplane towards the shore. Susan points out that he never actually saw the boat leave the plane, it could have been coming from anywhere "and we have no idea who anyone is."

* MistakenNationality: The "Japanese" tourists.

''' ''The Spanish Prisoner'' ''' is a suspense/crime/mystery film written and directed by DavidMamet. It revolves around Joe Ross, a researcher for an unnamed major company who's recently perfected an unspecified process which is worth a great deal of money. While on a business trip in the caribbean, he meets and befriends a wealthy traveller who offers to advise him and help him get a fair share of the profits. Shortly, however, he begins to question his new friend's motives and intentions. As in most Mamet stories, deceptions and cons pile up as both the protagonist and the audience try to figure out who's telling the truth, and who's part of a plot.

* ItWasHereISwear

''' ''TheSpanishPrisoner'' ''' is a suspense/crime/mystery film written and directed by DavidMamet. It revolves around Joe Ross, a researcher for an unnamed major company who's recently perfected an unspecified process which is worth a great deal of money. While on a business trip in the caribbean, he meets and befriends a wealthy traveller who offers to advise him and help him get a fair share of the profits. Shortly, however, he begins to question his new friend's motives and intentions. As in most Mamet stories, deceptions and cons pile up as both the protagonist and the audience try to figure out who's telling the truth, and who's part of a plot.

* ItWasHere,ISwear

* PoliceAreUseless: In fairness to the police, things were deliberately set up so that Joe would look guilty and half of his story fell apart on inspection. Naturally they don't believe his pleas of innocence.

* RewatchBonus: The film is filled with details that don't seem significant until you get to the end, then you realize how cleverly done everything was.