The Last Castle

A prison movie with military trappings, this feels like something Hollywood might have made with Burt Lancaster or Gregory Peck during the Cold War. Director Lurie evidently believes in heroes, and he's found his perfect actor in Redford. He stars as Gen Eugene Irwin, who is court-martialled and thrown in military prison - to the awe of Col Winter (Gandolfini), the tinpot in charge. 'They should be naming a base after him, not sending him here,' he marvels. Irwin has served in 'Nam, the Gulf and Bosnia. He's 'a great man' who's 'done so much for the country' that his fellow prisoners genuflect. He just wants to do his time and keep his nose clean, but he's appalled by Winter's petty tyrannies, his callous disregard for human life, and the two are soon locked in an escalating battle for control of the inmates. Like most prison movies, this is broadly anti-authoritarian. But Lurie is so devoted to Irwin's 'enlightened' authority, he has ended up making a deeply conservative film, not to mention a ludicrous one, which at one particular low point involves an impromptu prisonyard rendition of 'The Halls of Montezuma'.