Cool Hand Luke

I first saw "Cool Hand Luke" the first week it came out. Went to see it with my father at a theater on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. We were just a few blocks away from the hospital where my Mom was dying of cancer and we just needed a break. It was cathartic. Feeling as beat up and left for dead as I was at the time, I came across a character who knew how to take the punches. "Luke" is a beautifully crafted film. Not one wasted frame or moment. Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson's screenplay is nothing less than a working man's parable of a truly good soul who just couldn't seem to get a break. In ways, it could be said he truly didn't let himself. But the strength within Luke that would not let him compromise who he was for who he was told to be, the resilience to fight back against those who tried to fight him on that was inspirational. Whether it was a carefully chosen remark or just one of them Luke looks, They knew They couldn't knock him out no matter how badly They knocked him down. Seems he handled life like that, and it was an example I've clung to and have tried to follow in the almost fifty subsequent years. Conrad Hall's cinematography was breathtaking, providing the scope of all the integral parts of the story with the immediacy of all the most intimate moments. Any single frame could hang on your living room wall as the centerpiece. The cast: Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin, Lou Antonio, Ralph Waite ... and George Kennedy. Academy Award Winner George Kennedy. "Dragline". The most unforgettable "gentle giant" I believe I've ever seen on the silver screen. Each and every one of them, in all their glory and in the simplest of nuances, helped raise Paul Newman's masterful portrayal to an ever higher level, maybe his best work ever. The character is very much the story in "Cool Hand Luke" and the ensemble brings it to life. Frustrating, challenging, confusing, pain- in-the-ass life with just enough of that rebellious spirit to bring hope to those facing some of their tougher times. I saw the film four more times that first year, and probably twice each year since whenever I could find it. Check in with Luke and the boys for a breath of fresh air and some world-shaking hope. Can't speak for anyone else, but Luke is right up there with Atticus Finch for me when it comes to celluloid heroes, these are the two whose stories got me through some really, really bleak times. And for me, "Cool Hand Luke" was ultimately a story of hope. The story of a man who never gave in. Never gave up. And never stopped grinning. All that they piled on him, all they tried to bury him under ... just wasn't worth his getting worked up over. Wasn't gonna get to his spirit.

This film got me from the first frame to the last. It's not even because of the story (which I love, of course) - it's just so very well made. And so modern. The kind of angles and perspectives the camera uses, the way it zooms in and out or even allows itself (literally) to get dirty - the way this whole picture was shot is just something I haven't seen in an American film released prior to this one.

And yet, although it is considered a classic, when people talk about the "New Hollywood" somehow 'Cool Hand Luke' is hardly ever mentioned - despite the fact that it came out only a couple of months after 'Bonnie and Clyde' in 1967 and before 'The Graduate'.

I look at this film mainly as a character study but the story arc also works very well and it hasn't aged a bit. This is one of those rare films that was way ahead of its time and which has simply everything: great acting, iconic characters and scenes, wonderful music - and the cinematography is just unbelievable.

Funny, tragic and moving, 'Cool Hand Luke' is one hell of a film. What we've got here is NOT failure to communicate - but a 10 star masterpiece.

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

One of the reasons that the late 60s/early 70s was such a powerful era in filmmaking is the emergence of the anti-hero (defined as an individual with heroic qualities, but not in a position we would usually find a hero). This is symbolized greatly in `Cool Hand Luke'. We can identify with Luke because his crime is venial and his concerns over the great questions of life are ours. It is because of this and his persuasive charm that the other prisoners (played remarkably well by Kennedy and a host of others to include Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Dennis Hopper and one of the actors who played a crewmember on `Alien') live vicariously through him.

Filled with memorable scenes (the boxing match, 50 eggs, the fealty of his fellow prisoners who help him finish his food after his stomach is shrunk in solitary confinement, `shakin' it here boss', the sneezing dogs, and of course the carwash part) and outstanding character development (created by what is said and what is not said, i.e. the visiting brother), one of screen history's most repeated lines and the great acting of Newman, this movie deserves to be called a classic. Released the same year as `Bonnie and Clyde', it makes one long for the days when you needed a real script to make a movie.

Amazing movie....watched it for the first time three or four years ago. Seen it plenty of times since......this, along with "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", is one of my favorite films of all-time. Luke is a truly memorable character; funny, tragic, inspirational.....a lot like Randle Patrick McMurphy. Paul Newman once again proved the Academy to be full of idiots, giving a great performance deserving of an Oscar. How he only won once, when Sally Field is the owner of two statuettes, is inexplicable. His run of classic films and touchstone characters from the 60s-70s (Luke, Fast Eddie, Butch, etc) is unparalleled. George Kennedy was good, too......I mightn't be good at critiquing, but I know what I like. And I like this.

Paul Newman was nominated for an Oscar and George Kennedy received one for his work in this allegorical prison drama. Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to a stretch on a southern chain gang after he's arrested for drunkenly decapitating parking meters. While the avowed ambition of the captain (Strother Martin) is for each prisoner to "get their mind right," it soon becomes obvious that Luke is not about to kowtow to anybody. When challenged to a fistfight by fellow inmate Dragline (George Kennedy), Luke simply refuses to give up, even though he's brutally beaten. Luke knows how to win at poker, even with bad cards, by using his smarts and playing it cool. Luke also figures out a way for the men to get their work done in half the usual time, giving them the afternoon off. Finally, when Luke finds out his mother has died, he plots his escape; when he's caught, he simply escapes again. Soon, Luke becomes a symbol of hope and resilience to the other men in the prison camp -- and a symbol of rebelliousness that must be stamped out to the guards and the captain. Along with stellar performances by Newman, Kennedy, and Martin, Cool Hand Luke features a superb supporting cast, including Ralph Waite, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, and Joe Don Baker as members of the chain gang.