467. Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Running Time: 126 minutes
Directed By: Stuart Rosenberg
Written By: Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, from novel by Donn Pearce
Main Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas

NEWMANIA!: PART IV - THE CONCLUSION

"Sometimes nothin' is a real cool hand"

Once again, like many times before, in order to watch "Cool Hand Luke", all I had to do was take a walk down the hall to the room that contains my DVDs. I saw "Cool Hand Luke" for the first time, about three years ago and it became an immediate purchase. On a second viewing, last night, I don't regret the purchase.

When the film open, Lucas Jackson (Newman) is "cutting the heads off" of parking meters and swilling a beer. When he finally collapses, resting up against one of the beheaded pieces of public property, the cops roll up and arrest him, as the films sweet, soft score leads into the opening credits. Luke is taken to a Florida prison camp, where he must serve two years. He immediately butts heads with the other prisoners, most notably Dragline (Kennedy), the big, gruff bulldog of the pack and their initial despise for each other culminates in a boxing match. Dragline beats Luke to a pulp, but Luke won't stay down, thus earning the respect of Dragline and making a new best friend in the process. At the Florida prison camp, prisoners are forced to be a part of the chain gang, where every morning their tools are loaded off and their carted to a county road to whack weeds or shovel gravel. The boys make a good time of it though and as long as they tell their "boss", the "man with no eyes" who serves as head guard, what they're doing and when they're doing it, they're just fine. Beyond that, the film just plays out like a standard prison flick, with camaraderie between the prisoners running strong and a lot of key scenes and bits of drama and comedy weaved together to make for a memorable affair.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!

My biggest weakness, as a fan of film, is a prison movie and my bigger weakness is a great one. "Cool Hand Luke" is kind of like "Jaws", in that I would have a hard time believing that anyone doesn't at least like this movie a little bit. It's a tough one to rip on, because plain and simple, there just isn't much to rip on. "Cool Hand Luke" is all about having a good time with a movie, laughing a little bit, feeling a little bit and in the end, that's what movies are all about. Paul Newman proves here that he was a great actor. I've watched four Newman movies now and in all of them, he's played a different person. That's the mark of a good actor - when they're doing such a fine job, that you literally have to stop and ask yourself, "Is that really the same guy who was just playing an Indian yesterday?" I'll give props to George Kennedy and Strother Martin as well, as they both solidified their spots and are very memorable characters to boot.

After watching "Cool Hand Luke" last night, I've got to wonder how much of it was used as inspiration for "The Shawshank Redemption". I know that film was based on a book, but it seemed to me that "Shawshank" borrowed a lot from the story of "Luke". For instance, you have a new prisoner, who doesn't say much when he enters, but still has kind of a cocky demeanor and has the other prisoners questioning what his deal is. Then you have two prisoners who start off disliking one another and end up being the best of friends, all the way to their eventual release or break-out. You have a beauty shot of Newman, standing in the rain and looking up at the heavens and you have the same thing with Tim Robbins in "Shawshank". There's a lot of similarities there, in my opinion and I know a lot of people who harp on how fantastic "Shawshank" is, have PROBABLY never even seen this.

I really don't have a whole lot else to say. "Cool Hand Luke" is a damn fine film, it's a lot of fun and it provides you with plenty of scenes that will send you through a bevy of emotions. If you're looking to have a good time and kick back with a REALLY good flick, then I'd highly recommend "Cool Hand Luke" That will do it for "NEWMANIA!". Four films later and I realize more than ever what a great actor and a great man we lost when Newman left this Earth.

Rest well Paul

RATING: 8.5/10 Another probable TOP 20 contender and another fantastic Newman film.

MOVIES WATCHED: 328
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 673

August 20, 2011 2:25pm