Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Everyone knows the famous line: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” It’s been quoted and spoofed so often that when you finally watch the original in Cool Hand Luke, you’ll probably burst out laughing.
But Cool Hand Luke is actually a drama, so despite that one humorous line, you won’t laugh at all. With many familiar shades of I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang, it’s a prison movie completely geared towards a male audience. There’s only two women in the film: Jo Van Fleet for five minutes as a classic long-suffering mom, and the famous “car wash” girl who teases all the men with her suggestive movements and skimpy dress. If Paul Newman wasn’t such a cutie, I don’t know why any woman would watch this movie.
Which brings me to my one criticism: Paul shouldn’t be such a cutie. Much of this movie is far too glossed over to be realistic. Prison movies are a very popular genre, and most of them are very “Hollywood-ized”, and this is no exception. Despite looking perpetually sweaty, the men don’t look like chain gang convicts. The five o’clock shadow on their faces indicate regular shaves, their clothes have only small smudges of dust and patches of sweat (which indicates either a regular laundry service or a hardly strenuous workday), and no haircut is overgrown. They joke and talk with each other all the time, get mail regularly, and are only punished if they deliberately disobey the rules. If it’s supposed to be such an intolerable situation that Paul can’t stand it, shouldn’t it be portrayed that way? It comes across as a grown-up boys’ camp, with a few hours a day working on the side of the road. When Paul starts breaking the rules, I couldn’t help but wonder why he was doing it.
But if you do love his sparkly blue eyes, you’ll probably want to see this movie. It’s very famous and has some iconic scenes, and who really tires of his bad boy attitude? He’s too cool for school, and we all love him for it. You’ll also get to see George Kennedy’s Oscar-winning performance. He has great screen energy, and his reaction to the car wash is very funny.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "jes white" for posting!
More Paul Newman movies here!
But Cool Hand Luke is actually a drama, so despite that one humorous line, you won’t laugh at all. With many familiar shades of I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang, it’s a prison movie completely geared towards a male audience. There’s only two women in the film: Jo Van Fleet for five minutes as a classic long-suffering mom, and the famous “car wash” girl who teases all the men with her suggestive movements and skimpy dress. If Paul Newman wasn’t such a cutie, I don’t know why any woman would watch this movie.
Which brings me to my one criticism: Paul shouldn’t be such a cutie. Much of this movie is far too glossed over to be realistic. Prison movies are a very popular genre, and most of them are very “Hollywood-ized”, and this is no exception. Despite looking perpetually sweaty, the men don’t look like chain gang convicts. The five o’clock shadow on their faces indicate regular shaves, their clothes have only small smudges of dust and patches of sweat (which indicates either a regular laundry service or a hardly strenuous workday), and no haircut is overgrown. They joke and talk with each other all the time, get mail regularly, and are only punished if they deliberately disobey the rules. If it’s supposed to be such an intolerable situation that Paul can’t stand it, shouldn’t it be portrayed that way? It comes across as a grown-up boys’ camp, with a few hours a day working on the side of the road. When Paul starts breaking the rules, I couldn’t help but wonder why he was doing it.
But if you do love his sparkly blue eyes, you’ll probably want to see this movie. It’s very famous and has some iconic scenes, and who really tires of his bad boy attitude? He’s too cool for school, and we all love him for it. You’ll also get to see George Kennedy’s Oscar-winning performance. He has great screen energy, and his reaction to the car wash is very funny.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "jes white" for posting!
More Paul Newman movies here!