Reverend Horton Heat

Thursday 10 December 2009

Cool Hand Luke Review







Cool Hand Luke Review

A five star film review from the Daily Mail and a 125th best film ever position on IMDb hinted that Cool Hand Luke wasn’t your average mediocre movie. Perhaps the problem was that my expectations were too high…

When Lucas Jackson (Paul Newman) gets sent to prison, he quickly gains the respect of his fellow inmates, and becomes their greatest idol. After his mother dies, Luke is appalled that he is forced to spend time in the box (an almost pitch black, narrow hut with not even enough space to lie down) in case he decides to attend her funeral. After he is released, however, Luke is determined to escape from the camp, and, with the help of friends, tries several times to do so.

Cool Hand Luke does have many great attributes, such as stunning and visually amazing cinematography (brilliant picture considering it was made in 1967!), a fair share of classic moments (e.g., the egg scene, and the Captain’s speech) and decent acting at best demonstrated towards the end.

The problem is that it didn’t feel to me like a classic film, and although enjoyable, wasn’t at all the remarkable film I expected it to be. Newman isn’t a jaw droppingly good actor, and wasn’t anything special in this.

A good film, which provides inventive entertainment, but not a masterpiece by any means.

Overall: 8/10


By Paddy Johnson

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