Video Review

Cool Hand Luke

EW's GRADE
B-

Details Movie Rated: Unrated; Genres: Comedy, Drama; With: George Kennedy and Paul Newman; Distributor: Warner Bros.

Paul Newman, first seen beating up parking meters along a lonely street, is a chain-gang member who just won't submit to prison authority in Cool Hand Luke. Luke's refusal to be broken has an almost Christ-like conviction, and he arrived on screens just in time to be embraced by the counterculture. Most long-haired rebels of the time fondly remember the irony of the line from Strother Martin as a sadistic guard: ''What we have here is a failure to communicate.'' Colorful, more than a touch pretentious, yet wholly enjoyable. B-

Originally posted Sep 28, 1990 Published in issue #33 Sep 28, 1990 Order article reprints
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