Cool Hand Luke

Paul Newman gives an excellent performance, assisted by a terrific supporting cast, including George Kennedy, outstanding as the unofficial leader of the cons and in my opinion that's the best part of the movie. The film tries to develop an anti-authoritarian fable, which condemn the cruelty of despotism, the violence of the abuse of power, the whims of totalitarian command and the sadism of incompetent bosses. The problem is that at the same time it tries to make all prisoners more human than all the jail authorities and, for me, both things don't match up. Sometimes this film feels like Espartaco, but in that film, the motivations were more justified. Luke's character (Paul Newman) bores me. He is indomitable, okay, but what else? You don't know much about him, about his past, why he behaves like this? And this causes you not to empathize with him (big problem, considering he is the main character). The two mythical scenes, the one with the eggs and the woman washing the car, are useless. The woman is a complete waste of time as it does not contribute with anything to the character or the plot. The one with the eggs contributes a little to the character, but to spend 15 minutes ... too long. There's no justification for the way Luke wins the sympathy of his companions. Despite all that, you can have a good time, the cinematography is good and there are entertaining moments.

Punctuation: 2/5