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In a tough military prison, one inmate leads a rebellion against the corrupt warden.
Starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Clifton Collins Jr, Delroy Lindo
Written by David Scarpa, Graham Yost
Produced by Robert Lawrence
Duration 132 minutes
Separating art from the artist. Some people really struggle with it. Since I think that a rational, intelligent person, one who can tell fantasy from reality, should have no problem, I try my best.
I'll still watch a Woody Allen movie (well, I haven't bothered with most of the newer ones; I'm talking about his mid-70s to mid-90s peak). As an example from a different medium, I remember how when I was at school, many people said they hated Oasis because they couldn’t stand the Gallagher brothers; personally, I wasn't dwelling on their personalities when I was belting along to 'Live Forever' or 'Supersonic'.
But I do struggle sometimes. Specifically, with two actors. One is Kevin Spacey; that's a strange one for me, though. Rather than boycotting the movies he's in, I actually find that his reputation now enhances his performances, since most of his characters are unsavoury and/or predatory types anyway (heartfelt attempts like PLAY IT FORWARD were never going to work, let's face it.)
The
other actor is Robert Redford. I was always a little suspicious of his golden
boy looks and megawatt smile, exacerbated with INDECENT
PROPOSAL, where he plays an all-time sleazeball with a billionaire's arrogant lack of
accountability.
But it was reading Peter Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures that left me never being able to look at Redford the same way again.
The book is pretty much the '90s version of Biskind's more famous Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, which was about the '70s movie brats (Scorsese, Friedkin, De Palma, Spielberg, etc). Pictures covers the independent movie scene of the late 20th Century. Included are Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson, David O Russell ... and, rather regrettably, Miramax, AKA the Weinstein brothers.
And it has many chapters on the Sundance Film Festival, founded by one Charles Robert Redford Jr. Biskind portrays Redford as unreliable and full of himself; woefully under-committed to his own institution, forever breaking promises and failing to turn up. Now, the author does admit to having a vendetta against Redford, for reasons that remain vague, and the actor/director doesn't seem to have this reputation anywhere else. Yet the description stuck with me, and I haven't been able to view Butch Cassidy's pal in the same light since.
Redford is a charisma actor: more charm than talent. And that can work; hell, it usually does, that's kind of the point. But not all viewers can be won over. I have a friend, for instance, who doesn't like George Clooney, finding him smarmy and smug. And while I can see his point, my own heart melted 30 years ago watching salt and pepper-haired Dr Doug Ross every Thursday night on ER, and he's had a hold on me ever since.
Redford's THE
LAST CASTLE co-star James Gandolfini was another charisma actor, albeit also a supremely talented performer overall. Here, however, he plays your archetypal sadistic warden. (More on Gandolfini in a minute.)
Yes,
this is a prison movie – a military prison movie, but I don't think that makes much of a difference. As such, the first thing the modern viewer does is compare the film to modern titan of the genre THE
SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. And it starts similarly, with new prisoners arriving and
the current inmates (including a young Mark Ruffalo) placing bets on who won't
last the first night. But it soon takes its own path.
Redford's
character, one of those newbies, is spoken about in revered, awed tones before
he even appears onscreen. He's a highly decorated general, who turns up to this
prison (nicknamed 'the castle') in full uniform and medals,
although he's down to his vest after checking into his cell – still
looking good at 65, Bob!
Adapting to life inside, General Redford mostly keeps himself to himself. He just wants to quietly do his time while absorbing people telling him things like "you are a great man, you've done so much for your country!" and "my father said you kept him alive in Hanoi!" Sometimes, he breaks things up by delivering inspirational speeches, most notably to a stammering Clifton Collins Jr.
(If it's ever revealed what this
saint among men did to end up behind bars, I missed it. Something about
disobeying a direct order, I think. Was probably one of those morally murky ones.)
Warden Gandolfini, meanwhile, keeps himself amused with stunts like confiscating the inmates' basketballs and gleefully watching the resultant brawl from a window in his ivory tower. He lets the fighting go on until he gets bored, and then tells the guards to shoot some prisoners at random.
And Redford's soon running afoul of the warden's tyranny, when the prison boss decides to knock Mr War Hero down a peg or two. He's punished for standing up for the other prisoners and forced to arbitrarily carry heavy rocks from one side of the yard to the other. For this, we upgrade from vest to a shirtless Redford, curly ginger chest hair and all.
Next, he starts persuading these thieves and murderers and whatever else to rebuild a broken wall, as a symbolic act of loyalty and companionship. And from there, it's a battle of wits to the end, with Redford deciding that it's going to be him who runs this penal establishment, not the onetime Tony Soprano. By the end, the former is leading a full-on prison escape/battle which, as per the whole 'castle' motif, resembles the final stretch of ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, with Gandolfini even eyeing up a ceremonial sword he has displayed in his office as an option to charge into battle with.
I also wanted to mention Delroy Lindo, who turns up as Redford's ex-colleague and advocate. Only because a) Lindo was such a beloved staple of '90s cinema (THE HARD WAY, CONGO, GET SHORTY [also with Gandolfini], BROKEN ARROW, RANSOM, A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, etc); and b) while ostensibly from the USA, he actually spent his early childhood in the London borough of Lewisham. Respect due.
As
for THE LAST CASTLE itself ... it's fine. Redford won't annoy most people and,
to be fair, he's likable enough here. Biskind was probably wrong ... probably.
It's not among the greatest prison movies (SHAWSHANK, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ,
that part in FACE/OFF) and is a little too rah-rah flag-waving for this
non-American. I mean, the Goddamn climax is a bullet-ridden Redford hoisting up the stars and stripes, with the flag then filling the
screen as the movie fades to black over triumphant music.
But
if you like stories about men behind bars overcoming adversity, then it'll do
fine. Plus at one point Ruffalo pilots a helicopter and destroys a guard
tower with its tail rotor. That's something Morgan Freeman's crusty lifer Red never got to do, at least.
Three stars out of five.
Additional: Another point in Redford's favour is his 1980 directorial debut, ORDINARY PEOPLE, which I happened to watch recently. What a great movie! It definitely takes the title of most forgotten '80s Best Picture winner away from THE LAST EMPEROR. Only, you know, undeservedly forgotten in this case.
Valid use of the word ‘last’? I guess it’s supposed to be some kind of metaphor for changing times, or maybe the overcoming the ‘last castle’ in all of us?
What would a movie called THE FIRST CASTLE be about? An hilarious and charming coming of age story about two young brothers who both enter a sandcastle building competition.
Previously: THE LAST FACE
Next time: THE LAST JOURNEY
Check out my books: Jonathanlastauthor.com