Cool Hand Luke

Most of the charm of Stuart Rosenberg's 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke stems from Paul Newman's (1925-2008) effortless, charismatic performance as the title character. In the film's unforgettable opening moments, Luke is arrested for drunkenly decapitating a row of parking meters. After landing in a rural prison, he's assigned to work on a road crew in the dead of summer heat. The prison's alpha male, Dragline (George Kennedy), takes an immediate dislike to the newcomer, but Luke eventually earns the respect of everyone with his blatant disregard for authority and carefree attitude. Boasting a fine screenplay by Frank R. Pierson and Donn Pearce (adapted from the latter's novel) with memorable dialogue (“what we have here is…failure to communicate”), Cool Hand Luke showcases Newman in one of his best sticking-it-to-the-Man roles (the egg-eating scene is justifiably famous). Conrad L. Hall's widescreen cinematography nicely captures the baking heat, especially in the road-tarring sequence. Presented with a handsome-looking remaster—very nice on the Blu-ray version—extras here include a new commentary track by Newman biographer Eric Lax, and a “making-of” featurette. Incidentally, the MPAA has never bothered to change its original “GP” rating (still listed on the back cover), which is essentially the same as a “PG” today. Highly recommended. (J.M. Anderson)