Review of Brubaker (1980) by Stephen T — 15 May 2015

Think about the time period when the film Brubaker was made: the late 1970s. Released in 1980, Brubaker became the perfect coda film for Robert Redford's 1970s films a.k.a. "the era of intrigue".

Fresh off a string of wildly diverse films, Redford returns to a film genre he knows and loves: expositions on crime, corruption, and reform; close Redfordian cousins of the era include The Candidate (1972, Michael Ritchie), Three Days of the Condor (1975, Sydney Pollack) and All the President's Men (1976, Alan J.

Pakula). Brubaker (1980, Stuart Rosenberg) highlights prison abuse and Redford's "noble liberal" [respectively] character attempts to reform it. He is blocked by power drunk prison officials, willfully ignorant townspeople, and the classic corrupt (state) government.

Viewers can tell Redford enjoys playing these parts as much as we enjoy watching him play them, he's very much at ease in this picture and that is a major compliment. Since "exposition pictures" tend to get preachy and over-the-top, Redford infuses badly needed pathos and at times physicality into his role as prison warden.

Lastly, a final note on the filming and location: Redford and Rosenberg use a documentarian camera style which is light of art and angles; and instead focuses on the subject and the immediate interactive environment.

Redford and Rosenberg do a fine job of substituting Ohio and Pennsylvania for eastern Arkansas. While its true Eastern Arkansas has had a checkered past (and what places haven't), Redford takes a few un-necessary jabs at the region and its culture.

Either way, Brubaker does a satisfying job of holding viewer's attention for over two hours on a documentary subject, while allowing audiences the pleasure of viewing Redford in his element.