Robert Redford in "The Last Castle."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Robert Redford and James Gandolfini Director: Rod Lurie Rated: R, with profanity and violence Length: 122 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(October 19, 2001) -- Rod Lurie's The Last Castle is a standard prison saga, but with two powerhouse performances strong enough to distract filmgoers from the movie's very real flaws.

The film adapts the prison milieu to military life. The Castle, you see, is a military prison, with soldiers as guards, a colonel in charge and court-martialed former soldiers as inmates.

The film's saving grace is the often-riveting, toe-to-toe tussle between Robert Redford as former Gen. Irwin, stripped of his three-star rank and court-martialed to prisoner status, and James Gandolfini as Col. Winters, the warden of the prison.

The screenplay by David Scarpa and Graham Yost follows the prison-movie formula of unjustly treated inmates seeking redress from their cruel warden.

As the film opens, Winters clearly owns the prisoners, heart and soul. They're a demoralized, ragtag outfit, reduced to fighting to the death over possession of a basketball.

After ex-Gen. Irwin arrives, that soon changes.

Winters initially is eager to welcome Irwin -- in fact, he's a bit intimidated. As a student of military history and a collector of artifacts, Winters respects Irwin's record and has even read his book on military tactics.

But when Irwin correctly notes that Winters has never seen combat himself and has no proper understanding of its nature, Winters is embarrassed and angry.

Once in the prison yard, Irwin quickly sees the prisoners need a purpose -- and renewed respect for themselves. Soon, he's got himself an army on his hands. And Col. Winters and the soldier-guards find themselves opposed.

Clearly, the theme here is the nature and effectiveness of leadership. But in stating its case, The Last Castle barrels through like a ram going through a stone wall. The film becomes a two-fisted overstatement with lots of macho posturing.

Part of that overstatement is the purity and goodness of virtually all the prisoners and the cruel insensitivity of nearly all the guards.

We're told very little about the crimes the prisoners committed. Presumably it's easier to like them if you don't know about their rapes, murders, robberies, drug-dealing or whatever. It might have helped balance the film if just a few of the hard-core inmates could actually have been evil slimeballs.

Much more successful -- and subtle -- are the performances of the two excellent leading actors. After years of holding on to his golden-boy handsomeness, Redford has finally developed a bit of the gravitas and melancholy of age, and he uses it to his advantage here. His Irwin has a world-weariness that he's forced to overcome in order to once again lead.

And Gandolfini (of Tony Soprano fame) creates a memorable portrait of bravado and strutting, a mask that soon slips to reveal his character's deep flaws and cowardice.

Thanks to Redford and Gandolfini, you might be able to forgive The Last Castle's prison-movie cliches, as well as the rash of improbabilities that undermine the film's extended final prison-yard battle.

I expected a bit more from director Lurie, especially following the intelligent political thriller, The Contender, which he directed and wrote. This time, he worked with somebody else's script. Live and learn.