August 3, 2009

Cool Hand Luke

I hope his pants aren't dirty; anyone with dirty pants in bed gets a night in the box

Title: Cool Hand Luke
Year: 1967
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writers: Donn Pearce & Frank Pierson, based on Pearce's novel
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy
Music: Lalo Schifrin
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Kennedy); Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Newman) and Best Score; currently #123 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 126 minutes
Synopsis: a "hard case" on a chain gang
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good)
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for story) c. 3.4/4 (Very good)

There are some great, very memorable sequences.  But it seemed unnecessarily episodic.  In retrospect, I can see how everything contributed to character development, but it felt unfocused while watching it.  And the ending is too inevitable to be satisfying.

1 comment:

  1. RIP, Paul Newman. I give this movie a 8/10. I liked it a lot, Paul gave a great performance.

    http://www.webthrowdown.com/224/paul-newman-vs-clint-eastwood/

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