`SPANISH PRISONER' PLAYS A SHELL GAME TO THE BITTER END.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Critic

Five minutes into ``The Spanish Prisoner,'' you know you're in a David Mamet movie, what with all the uptight businessmen secretly murmuring about data and formulas and Something Big called ``The Process.'' Ten minutes later, you're sure you're in Mamet country because it has become completely apparent that you can't trust what anyone in this film is saying or doing.

``The Spanish Prisoner'' is a smart movie about the most elaborate confidence game this side of ``The Sting.'' Writer-director Mamet spends the first hour carefully putting each plot element into place and then gleefully layers on twists and reversals - some ingenious, others incongruous - until the movie ultimately expends itself in foolishness. If the ending is less than perfect (or plausible), you don't mind much because what came before was so thoroughly intelligent and enjoyable.

Joe Ross (Campbell Scott) is a company man who has invented ``The Process,'' a top-secret formula that stands to make his employers an awful lot of money. Joe would like to see some of those proceeds, but his boss, Mr. Klein (Ben Gazzara), keeps putting him off, vaguely saying something about future rewards that will come at a stockholders meeting.

Joe is a trustworthy sort - he was a Boy Scout and has the hunting knife to prove it - but he's starting to have nagging doubts about getting the recognition he deserves. And while you couldn't find a nicer guy than Joe, he does seem to be a bit of a passive egoist who secretly has a hankering for the finer things in life.

Meanwhile, Mr. Klein becomes obsessive about office leaks. He doesn't want anyone stealing ``The Process'' before he can sell it, so he and his attorneys ask Joe to sign a confidentiality document. This incenses Joe even further - ``After all I've done for you, you don't trust ME!'' - and he turns to a new friend, Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin), a mysterious jet-setting tycoon he met on a Caribbean business trip, for advice.

But can Joe trust Jimmy? And can Jimmy trust Joe? And what about that perky secretary in Joe's office, Susan (Rebecca Pidgeon), who's always so eager to help in every possible way. Joe's colleague George (Ricky Jay) seems a little fishy, too, what with his mysterious gambling winnings and his penchant for talking like he has memorized ``Bartlett's Famous Quotations.''

``The Spanish Prisoner'' has a wealth of memorable characters and situations, and, as you would expect from playwright Mamet, a fair share of smart, knowing dialogue (but without the profanity that punctuates much of his work).

The movie lives and dies with the complexities of its con game. Mamet really isn't trying to delve much into the human experience here, as he has done before with plays like ``Glengarry Glen Ross'' and ``Speed the Plow.'' The sting's the thing, and it works quite well (both on the audience and the characters).

If there is a message, it's certainly age-old advice. You know, stuff like ``pride goeth before a fall'' and ``no one is what they seem.'' The cast, particularly Campbell and Martin (in a nicely mannered dramatic turn), deliver characters that are living proof of those adages.

Or maybe not. Decide for yourself when the end credits roll.

THE FACTS

The film: ``The Spanish Prisoner'' (PG; violent images, language).

The stars: Campbell Scott, Steve Martin, Ben Gazzara, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by David Mamet. Released by Sony Pictures Classics.

Running time: One hour, 52 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5, Encino; Beverly Center Cineplex, Beverly Hills; Laemmle's Royal, West Lost Angeles; Laemmle's Esquire, Pasadena.

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: Company man Joe Ross (Campbell Scott), left, turns to outsider Jimmy Dell (Steve Martin) in frustration in ``The Spanish Prisoner.''