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Hub AI
The Spanish Prisoner AI simulator
(@The Spanish Prisoner_simulator)
Hub AI
The Spanish Prisoner AI simulator
(@The Spanish Prisoner_simulator)
The Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American neo-noir suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Felicity Huffman and Ricky Jay. It tells a story of corporate espionage conducted through an elaborate confidence game.
In 1999 it was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.
Corporate engineer Joe Ross has invented a potentially lucrative "process", the precise nature of which is never revealed. While on a retreat on the island of St. Estèphe, he meets wealthy stranger Julian "Jimmy" Dell and attracts the interest of one of the company's new secretaries, Susan Ricci.
Jimmy wants to introduce Joe to his sister, an Olympic-class tennis player, in New York and asks him to deliver a package to her. Susan sits near Joe on the airplane back to New York, converses with him about how "you never know who anybody is," and talks about unwitting drug mules. Suddenly afraid the package might contain something illegal, he opens it on the plane but finds only a 1939 edition of the book Budge on Tennis, which he damages while opening. Once home, he buys an intact copy of the book and drops it at Jimmy's sister’s building, keeping the original at his office.
Jimmy suggests that Joe's boss, Mr. Klein, might not give him fair compensation for his work. Jimmy invites Joe to dinner, and seemingly on a lark opens a Swiss bank account for him with a token balance of 15 Swiss francs. Taking him to dinner at a club requiring membership, Jimmy has Joe sign a certificate to join. Over dinner, he advises Joe to consult legal counsel about his position in the company regarding the Process. He invites Joe to meet with his own lawyer and tells him to bring along the only copy of the Process.
Joe soon learns that Jimmy's sister does not exist, and realizes Jimmy is a con artist attempting to steal the Process. Joe contacts Pat McCune, a woman he met on the island who Susan told him was an FBI agent, and whose business card Susan had kept. McCune’s FBI squad enlists him in a sting operation to catch Jimmy. While fitting Joe with a wire for his planned meeting with Jimmy, an FBI agent explains the Spanish Prisoner con, a version of which Jimmy has been running on Joe. When Jimmy never shows up for the meeting, Joe realizes McCune is actually part of Jimmy's con game, and that the Process has just been stolen.
Joe attempts to explain what happened to his employer and the police but finds that Jimmy has made it appear that he has sold his Process to the Japanese. The Swiss bank account that Jimmy opened for him makes it look as though he is hiding assets, and the certificate he signed to join the club turns out to be a request for political asylum in Venezuela, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. The police show Joe that Jimmy's apartment is a façade and that the club's members-only room is a normal restaurant. Joe is also framed for the murder of the company lawyer, George Lang.
On the run, Joe reconnects with Susan, who says she believes his story. Joe remembers that the hotel on the island maintains video surveillance, which could prove that Jimmy was there. Susan takes him to the airport so he can fly back to the island. Seeing a police roadblock on the way to the airport, she convinces him to drive to Boston.
The Spanish Prisoner
The Spanish Prisoner is a 1997 American neo-noir suspense film, written and directed by David Mamet and starring Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ben Gazzara, Felicity Huffman and Ricky Jay. It tells a story of corporate espionage conducted through an elaborate confidence game.
In 1999 it was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.
Corporate engineer Joe Ross has invented a potentially lucrative "process", the precise nature of which is never revealed. While on a retreat on the island of St. Estèphe, he meets wealthy stranger Julian "Jimmy" Dell and attracts the interest of one of the company's new secretaries, Susan Ricci.
Jimmy wants to introduce Joe to his sister, an Olympic-class tennis player, in New York and asks him to deliver a package to her. Susan sits near Joe on the airplane back to New York, converses with him about how "you never know who anybody is," and talks about unwitting drug mules. Suddenly afraid the package might contain something illegal, he opens it on the plane but finds only a 1939 edition of the book Budge on Tennis, which he damages while opening. Once home, he buys an intact copy of the book and drops it at Jimmy's sister’s building, keeping the original at his office.
Jimmy suggests that Joe's boss, Mr. Klein, might not give him fair compensation for his work. Jimmy invites Joe to dinner, and seemingly on a lark opens a Swiss bank account for him with a token balance of 15 Swiss francs. Taking him to dinner at a club requiring membership, Jimmy has Joe sign a certificate to join. Over dinner, he advises Joe to consult legal counsel about his position in the company regarding the Process. He invites Joe to meet with his own lawyer and tells him to bring along the only copy of the Process.
Joe soon learns that Jimmy's sister does not exist, and realizes Jimmy is a con artist attempting to steal the Process. Joe contacts Pat McCune, a woman he met on the island who Susan told him was an FBI agent, and whose business card Susan had kept. McCune’s FBI squad enlists him in a sting operation to catch Jimmy. While fitting Joe with a wire for his planned meeting with Jimmy, an FBI agent explains the Spanish Prisoner con, a version of which Jimmy has been running on Joe. When Jimmy never shows up for the meeting, Joe realizes McCune is actually part of Jimmy's con game, and that the Process has just been stolen.
Joe attempts to explain what happened to his employer and the police but finds that Jimmy has made it appear that he has sold his Process to the Japanese. The Swiss bank account that Jimmy opened for him makes it look as though he is hiding assets, and the certificate he signed to join the club turns out to be a request for political asylum in Venezuela, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. The police show Joe that Jimmy's apartment is a façade and that the club's members-only room is a normal restaurant. Joe is also framed for the murder of the company lawyer, George Lang.
On the run, Joe reconnects with Susan, who says she believes his story. Joe remembers that the hotel on the island maintains video surveillance, which could prove that Jimmy was there. Susan takes him to the airport so he can fly back to the island. Seeing a police roadblock on the way to the airport, she convinces him to drive to Boston.