Review of Cool Hand Luke (1967) by Reid V — 08 Mar 2011

"What we have here is failure to communicate" is not only a famous piece of dialogue from this film, but also sums up director Stuart Rosenberg's film Cool Hand Luke. While the story provides so many moments to really dive into the hearts and minds of these characters, Rosenberg only takes advantage of a few. Instead, he substitutes depth with whimsy and we are left with a film that really fails to communicate with the audience. Sure the film is iconic. Newsman and Kelly's performances are very absorbing and the egg eating contest is so bizarre that it has certainly left it's imprint on American cinema. Yet, although these elements make this film memorable, they cannot save the film from the emptiness that saturates many of these scenes. While that may seem harsh, the film isn't all bad. In fact, there are some really powerful scenes. One involves a moment between Luke and his mother. Rosenberg also manages to touch on themes of what makes a "criminal" and what does it mean to be free? Also, the ineffective nature of "correctional facilities" and the persistence of the human spirit.

It is definitely worth a watch and overall a fine film. Yet, it is really hard to shake the feeling that Rosenberg really missed an opportunity to make a really powerful piece of cinema.