Day 354: Cool Hand Luke

Directed By- Stuart Roseberg

Writer(s)- Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson; Based on the Book of the same name By- Donn Pearce

Starring- Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin

Run Time- 2 hr. 7 min. 

Critics Review- "A caustically witty look at the American South and its still-surviving chain gangs, with Newman in fine sardonic form as the boss-baiter who refuses to submit and becomes a hero to his fellow-prisoners."- Tom Milne "Time Out"

Rotten Tomatoes Review- Critics- 100% [CERTIFIED FRESH] Audience- 93%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 5 stars

My Review- 

I have always liked Paul Newman as an actor, out of the movies I have seen with him and here is no different. Newman was cool as fuck in this movie, well his nickname was Cool Hand Luke, because he was. The time that this movie was set was when chain gangs still existed and how you would have to get accepted by the prisoners get respect, and he did just that by being cool and sort of being himself. I was surprised at how many actors I knew of were in this movie, well it was like 3 actors, but it was still cool; Dennis Hopper, even though his part was small along with Harry Dean Stanton, and George Kennedy who won a well deserved Academy Award for this film as sort of the main one in chain gang who took Luke as his own and followed anything that he did. I like when the author's of books will write or contribute to the screenplay if his/her book is being made into a movie, so nothing important will be taken away from the book and it will be kept in tact. I was kind of surprised that Newman did not win an Oscar for this film since he owned every scene that he was in and it is never surprising on how well he does in a film, especially with one as important as this one. I think this movie was important because it was on of those films where one person did not listen to as what they called was the "establishment" or the one who was in charge and gave hope for everyone else, seeing that they could be an inspiration without knowing it. The main theme for the movie was also really good, it was nice and subtle because it was not overwhelming and it only came in when it was needed and seemed like it perfectly fit the movie. I would have liked if they showed Strother Martin's character "The Captain" a lot more, since he was like the warden of the prison he was not used a lot, when I thought they could have had a lot of him throughout the film dealing with Paul Newman's Luke. Seeing how this movie is in the National Film Registry for preservation this a movie not to be missed and should be seen to see why it was chosen for preservation and why when the film came out it was so important, I really liked it and hope if who ever watches it does as well.