Review of Cool Hand Luke (1967) by Cherry W — 28 Jan 2012

Cold Hand Luke is such a charming movie and its main protagonist is the height of cool. Paul Newman is fantastic as the petty criminal, a man who has been a decorated war hero but also someone who is struggling to cope with a normal life in a small town where nothing of interest happens.

Newman is great as the charming Luke but he also bears the characters scars of war very well. After coming home from the war Luke descends on a path of self destruction. He is a drunk who is bored of life and to keep himself from going insane goes around committing petty crime and vandalism to keep himself entertained.

Eventually this path leads to trouble with the law and Luke finds himself in a correctional facility whose inmates range from thieves to murders and rapists.While at the facility he will be part of a chain gang, forced to work in searing heat with little water or shelter from the suns energy sapping rays.

Luke finds it hard to bond with his inmates at first, he even manages to get up the nose of the most senior prisoners and a brutal fight ensures. Despite taking a beating his actions in the ring lead to him gaining massive respect from his peers and soon they become to love the man know as Cold Hand Luke.

The movie follows Luke and his fellow inmates on a game of cat and mouse with the guards and the more Luke wins the more the screws are willing to push him to breaking point which will end in tragic circumstances.