Cool Hand Luke (1967)
The Cast
Paul Newman ... Luke
George Kennedy ... Dragline
J.D. Cannon ... Society Red
Lou Antonio ... Koko
Robert Drivas ... Loudmouth Steve
Strother Martin ... Captain
Jo Van Fleet ... Arletta
Clifton James ... Carr
Morgan Woodward ... Boss Godfrey
Luke Askew ... Boss Paul
Dennis Hopper ... Babalugats
Wayne Rogers ... Gambler
Harry Dean Stanton ... Tramp
Joy Harmon ... The Girl
Joe Don Baker ... Fixer
James Gammon ... Sleepy
Rance Howard ... Sheriff
For the past month and a half I've been searching for a way to review a movie that is 40 years old that I just saw for the first time. A movie that has undoubtedly influenced numerous other films, TV shows, perspectives, you know, pretty much pop culture. I haven't been trying that hard to find that angle to write the review from, more like just trying to see the movie from other people's viewpoints. Wondering how they hold this film in such high regard when the idea has been remade over and over again, occasionally in far better ways.
Cool Hand Luke was directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and adapted from Donn Pearce's novel by Pearce himself. When we first meet Luke (Newman) in the opening scene, he's nearly drunk out of his mind in a parking lot unscrewing the heads off of parking metres. The cops show up and soon enough, Luke is carted off to a prison camp run by the hard ass Captain (Martin). At first Luke is content just to sit back and do his time, but circumstances soon unfold that push his temper and hard case personality to the forefront. This leads to the rest of Luke's fellow prisoners becoming more and more endeared with him, and conversely the establishment that runs the prison more and more cruel to Luke. It's basically a battle that Luke can never ever win, yet he keeps fighting it.
Almost directly from the start of the movie, I was reminded intensely of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. For me, it's impossible not to compare the two films, the two novels, the two incendiary lead characters. I know the film version of Cuckoo's Nest came out after the film version of Luke, but it turns out that it's the other way around for the novels. I'm not stating this in an accusatory manner or anything like that, just providing a basis for why I both prefer Cuckoo's Nest and for why I feel it's the more original film.
Both films inspire the same feelings in viewers, both have lead characters that hopelessly fight a war that they cannot possibly hope to win. Both films are loved passionately by millions of people. Luke is a fine picture, and it's definitely worthwhile to watch for fans of The Simpsons or any other animated program that relies on movie homages as part of it's humour repertoire. There's some decent performances in Luke, as George Kennedy proved when he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his part in the film. Some decent cinematography as well, but it's something that I've seen paid homage to for so long that basically every scene had no meaning to me. Perhaps if I'd spent twenty years watching Cool Hand Luke instead of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I'd find Luke to be the more essential film.
4 / 5