The Last Castle (October 18/01)

The Last Castle is the sort of film that's enjoyable while you're watching, but later, when you start to think about it, you realize the whole thing was just so…ordinary.

Robert Redford stars as a three-star general who - as the movie opens - has just been sentenced to 10-years for unknown crimes (we find out very late into the film exactly what he did). He's sent to a prison that houses military convicts nicknamed the castle. Running this institution is Colonel Winter (played by James Gandolfini), a meek-looking bear of a man who's unafraid of doing what ever it takes to maintain order. Redford quickly discovers that all is not well at the castle - disobedient inmates seem to be mysteriously dying - and begins rallying the former troops together in an effort to remove Gandolfini from his position.

Rod Lurie, whose previous two films Deterrence and The Contender featured a screenplay written by him and a largely dialogue-driven storyline, directs The Last Castle from a script co-written by Canadian Graham Yost (best known for penning Speed). Lurie's first attempt at a larger-scale production isn't entirely successful, though he does attempt some fancy camera moves and is certainly able to pull excellent performances out of his actors.

No, the real problem with The Last Castle is it's feeling of familiarity and predictability. Prison movies have always been a Hollywood staple, so for one to be successful it must attempt something different. The plot of The Last Castle - an evil warden torments his prisoners - is nothing new. Turning the jail into a military prison is a good idea, though, as is having the inmates stage a fully-planned and thought-out coup d'etat (of sorts). But the first hour and a half of the movie features standard stuff (an insubordinate prisoner is ruthlessly executed by the warden, a long-term project by the inmates is destroyed in an effort to break their spirits, etc.); all of which doesn't not speed up the already-slow pace.

But The Last Castle is worth checking out, if only for the performances (Mark Ruffalo, in his first major role since winning heaps of kudos for his performance in You Can Count On Me, is particularly good as a disillusioned prisoner) and the prolonged action sequence near the end of the picture.