Prison life is not good for anyone....
Added 9/27/2009
I guess I was less enamored with this film than most reviewers. Paul Newman, of course, turns in his customary bravo performance, but at the end of the day many viewers will have difficulty identifying with the protagonist of this film. (Paul Newman, as "Luke.") Luke has a two-year sentence at hard labor, and seems to go out of his way to make things difficult for himself. The terrible truth of prison life is that the guards and administration have absolute power over you, and prison is accordingly no place to try to assert individualism. That is the basic moral of this not-uplifting story but Luke cannot seem to get this notion through his head.
This one is probably a realistic portrayal of 1950s era prison life. But it is not a film I would care to watch more than once. RJB.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Poor sound
Added 8/3/2009
Was so excited to get on Blue ray But not happy when watching, played on new 46 in Samsung LED with surrondsound Great picture Very POOR Sound..
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Beautiful and Moving Movie
Added 7/17/2009
The acting and directing in this movie is outstanding. You will find yourself feeling for these prison inmates, rooting for Cool Hand as he takes on eating 50 eggs, and you will definitely find yourself despising the warden and guards.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"You an original. That's what you are."
Added 6/30/2009
"Cool Hand Luke" was adapted from the novel by Don Pearce, who spent some time on a Florida chain gang and based his leading character, Lucas Jackson, one-third on a real man he knew in prison, one-third on himself, and the rest is fiction. Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman) is sent to a Southern prison camp for "maliciously destroying municipal property while under the influence" -busting parking meters, where the prisoners work on a chain gang doing road work. A big, boisterous inmate nicknamed "Dragline" (George Kennedy) at first sees Luke as a challenge to his position, but soon comes to admire Luke's daring and stubbornness. His fellow prisoners find Luke's fearlessness inspiring, but the prison warden and guards are uneasy with it.
George Kennedy won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the friendly, simple country guy who idolizes Luke. He's one of many notable character actors in the film's large supporting cast. "Cool Hand Luke" harkens back to the prison films of the 1930s, also produced by Warner Brothers, in its social conscience message and antihero protagonist. It particularly reminds me of "I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang" (1932), written by another man with experience on a Southern chain gang. "Cool Hand Luke" is beautifully shot by cinematographer Conrad Hall, who would win an Academy Award much later for another Newman film, "Road to Perdition" (2002). I don't think I've ever seen a camera move so much on landscapes. It's captivating.
One thing that characterizes films with enduring greatness is that they invite more than one reading of the material. "Cool Hand Luke" is a character study of Lucas Jackson, a man whose stubbornness is less a conviction than it is self-destruction. Or perhaps it is not about Luke at all, but about how those around him react to his unwillingness to conform. If we are to view Luke simply as an inmate, he is a masochistic fool. If we interpret the prison as a microcosm of the greater society, he is the nonconformist through whom the rest of the population lives vicariously and whom authorities fear simply because he does not fear them. The prison has nitpicky rules, but there doesn't seem to be much reason to disobey them. Yet Luke cannot bring himself to live that way. Perhaps the conclusion is that we need people who are a little nuts to flout society's norms sometimes.
The DVD (Warner Brothers 2008): Bonus features are one featurette, an audio commentary, and a theatrical trailer (3 min). "A Natural-Born World Shaker: Making Cool Hand Luke" (30 min) includes recent interviews with director Stuart Rosenberg, screenwriter Frank Pierson, Paul Newman biographer Eric Lax, novelist Dan Pearce, and many members of the cast and crew who talk about getting the film made, camaraderie on set, and filming. The audio commentary is by Newman biographer Eric Lax, who did not participate in the film, so he has a scholar's view, not personal recollections. He talks about the making of the film, its anti-authoritarian themes, characters, sets, and takes us through the film. Subtitles available in English SDH, French. Dubbing available in French.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Another path to salvation
Added 6/29/2009
You got to hand it to a movie that has a cast of actors like Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton and future TV stars like Wayne (MASH) Rogers and Ralph (The Waltons) Waite in supporting roles that don't even merit feature billing. That's how great this cast is, and Paul Newman leads it with aplomb, his handsome charm a mask for what a fine actor he was. That said, this movie lacks the visual style and sense of bloody menace that other films of this ilk and time (Bonnie and Clyde, Sam Peckinpah's ouevre) were managing to bring to the table. Instead, the film has a brightly-lit look, and the actors have a pretty sweatiness about them that is almost more Calvin Klein ad than gritty prison film. The story is intriguing only in how all the other inmates of the honour farm vest their hopes for salvation from oppression in the vessel of rebellious "Cool Hand" Luke, a charming non-conformist who, in the film's imagery and a closing, unanswered prayer to god, is almost likened to Jesus. Cool Hand Luke is a fine entertainment but far from a great film.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Prison life is not good for anyone....
Added 9/27/2009
I guess I was less enamored with this film than most reviewers. Paul Newman, of course, turns in his customary bravo performance, but at the end of the day many viewers will have difficulty identifying with the protagonist of this film. (Paul Newman, as "Luke.") Luke has a two-year sentence at hard labor, and seems to go out of his way to make things difficult for himself. The terrible truth of prison life is that the guards and administration have absolute power over you, and prison is accordingly no place to try to assert individualism. That is the basic moral of this not-uplifting story but Luke cannot seem to get this notion through his head.
This one is probably a realistic portrayal of 1950s era prison life. But it is not a film I would care to watch more than once. RJB.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Poor sound
Added 8/3/2009
Was so excited to get on Blue ray But not happy when watching, played on new 46 in Samsung LED with surrondsound Great picture Very POOR Sound..
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
A Beautiful and Moving Movie
Added 7/17/2009
The acting and directing in this movie is outstanding. You will find yourself feeling for these prison inmates, rooting for Cool Hand as he takes on eating 50 eggs, and you will definitely find yourself despising the warden and guards.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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