Review: Cool Hand Luke

       Paul Newman started out as many actors start out in Hollywood. He was a handsome face, and he could shout “Follow me, boys!” as he went over the top in war movies. It's the kind of role that, if one can do well, can become the whole of one's career, take John Wayne for example. Then as he gained critical acclaim for his work he could have taken the Charlton Heston route, getting nobler and nobler with each role that he could eventually drive chariots, part the red sea, and take dictation from God. Instead, Newman took the opposite approach to his career. He played the role of just the regular guy that we would feel comfortable having a beer with. Often times Newman's characters had a bit of a dark side, and as such he was a pioneer of the anti-hero character. Newman had a tendency to play scam artists, in films like The Hustler, The Sting, and Cool Hand Luke.

       In Cool Hand Luke, Newman plays Luke, a criminal who has been arrested for drunkenly cutting the heads off of parking meters. He is sent to a prison camp where he is to work on a chain gang with other convicts. It's grueling work, and the guards are strict, but Luke doesn't care. He has a very nonchalant attitude about his whole situation. He's a cool hand. Luke's relaxed attitude makes him a favorite among the other convicts, especially with one named Dragline. After befriending Luke, Dragline boasts that Luke can eat anything, and Luke backs him up saying he could eat 50 eggs in an hour. After some training, Luke eats the eggs and everyone in the camp bets on it, earning Luke and Dragline all the money in camp. As good a time Luke is having with the convicts, he yearns for his freedom and plans an escape. After escaping he is caught soon after and brought back to camp and punished. Luke escapes a second time, this time he's gone longer. So long, that he mails a magazine containing a picture of him getting cozy with two beautiful women. This makes Luke something of a hero to the other convicts, his escape represents their own escape. It gives them hope for the future. But Luke is eventually brought back to the camp, and he is punished so severely that he begs the guards to let up, promising that he won't try to escape ever again and that he will act the way they want from now on. This ruins the morale at the camp, forcing them to deal with their hero being knocked from his pedestal. But a free spirit like Luke can't be crushed forever, could it?

       Paul Newman is the star of this movie and he deserves all the acclaim he got for this role. While his character is largely happy-go-lucky he displays a wide range of emotion through that nonchalant filter. It's a tricky thing to explain, and is better to see on screen. The script following the character arc of Luke is very well written, and Luke's assimilation into the camp is very compelling. This movie was released in 1967, and the story of Luke reflects the emerging counterculture movement that rejected authority in favor of individual fulfillment. Cool Hand Luke is an essential “guy” movie, and Paul Newman is the everyman we can all hope to be.