Lambie Reviews Cool Hand Luke

Year:1967
Accolades: Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for George Kennedy; One of 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die; #71 in the AFI's Top 100 Inspiring Films
Review on Letterboxd: 'Cool Hand Luke' Review by Avalanche

There is not much of a plot here, although for the first half of the film I didn't mind. The almost laid back nature of Luke in the prison he is sent to, combined with the almost as laid back nature of the soundtrack, shots of the sunrise and sunset, and hypnotic repetition of work on the chain gang all work really well together.

The problem is that once the second half of the film kicks in, it's just a mish-mash of random stuff that happens that gets no one anywhere. The film really wants us to think that Luke is having an impact on his fellow prisoners, but that connection isn't portrayed strongly enough. At times you think he's getting into the heads of the prison guards, but nothing ever comes of it. It makes the conclusion of the film devoid of any impact that a film of this nature desperately needs.

The main thematic notion of the film is that Luke supposedly rebels against the rules of prison life, but even that I found hard to grasp onto. Sometimes he takes a carefree attitude to things, but people of authority don't pull him up on it because at the end of the day he gets his work done and hasn't actually broken any rules. Sometimes Luke seems to do stuff not out of any inability or refusal to conform, but because he seems bored. Maybe I missed some of the subtext in this film, but the character of Luke comes across as a quiet, complex one that isn't completely explored in a satisfactory way, which ultimately left me puzzled as to why he did many of the things he did in the film.