Not every movie that I watch for this series will be as fun or entertaining as the ones featured in the previous entries. There are a great many significant and even important films of a much more dramatic and serious nature. While not devoid of smile-worthy moments or even humor, this is one such film. A signature piece of non-conformity and anti-establishment sentiment, Paul Newman stars in 1967’s “Cool Hand Luke.”
The movie opens with a parking meter repeatedly flipping up its red indicator of “VIOLATION” as the titular protagonist cuts the machine from its post. I’m sure a lot of hay has already been made over the use of symbolic and metaphorical imagery in this film, and I don’t intend to rehash too much of that here. The opening scene bears special mention, however, as it is perhaps the most on-the-nose illustration of Luke’s character. He doesn’t especially care for rules and regulations, but his reasons for railing against them range from personal injustice all the way down to it just being something to do. My cohort Andrew sometimes refers to this kind of character and story as “drift punk.” Luke has no particular agenda. He has likes and dislikes, but his actions are mostly impulsive and reactionary. He hates being told what he can and cannot do, but has a strong internal sense of what he believes is right and what is wrong.
For all its symbolism and metaphor, the movie doesn’t ever get too clever. Luke and the rest of the prisoners are generally portrayed as sympathetic and the audience is made to care about them, especially George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance as “Dragline.” Strother Martin’s “Captain” and the rest of the prison staff are rarely anything other than antagonistic, representing a somewhat twisted and idealized archetype of “the man.” Despite strong performances from a talented group of actors, a lot of the movie still hangs on the charisma of Newman in the lead role and he carries it well with seemingly little effort.
While Luke is often hailed as a movie hero, he’s more of an antihero by traditional definition. Even so, it’s virtually impossible not to root for him much as his fellow inmates do. This movie has held up and been spoken of highly in the last five decades for good reason. Some of the cinematography and framing look a little dated now, but overall I think it works almost as well as it did when it was new. It seems to have almost nothing to say in the way of a point to be made, but still engages the audience and gets them thinking. Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand. A-