The Last Castle (2001)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Rod Lurie

Writers (WGA):

David Scarpa (story)
David Scarpa (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A castle can only have one king

Plot:

A Court Martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.

Plot Keywords:

General | Prison | Military | Warden | Colonel

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13

7:45 PM

MAX

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin
James Gandolfini	...	Col. Winter
Mark Ruffalo	...	Yates
Steve Burton	...	Capt. Peretz
Delroy Lindo	...	Gen. Wheeler
Paul Calderon	...	Dellwo
Samuel Ball	...	Duffy
Jeremy Childs	...	Cutbush
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Cpl. Ramon Aguilar
George W. Scott	...	Thumper
Brian Goodman	...	Beaupre
Michael Irby	...	Enriquez
Frank Military	...	Doc Lee Bernard
Maurice Bullard	...	Sgt. McLaren
Nick Kokich	...	Pvt. Niebolt

Also Known As:

The Castle (USA) (working title)
Untitled Rod Lurie Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and violence.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | USA:R (certificate #38538) | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Winter and Yates are the names of two British chess champions.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Whenever Col. Winters talks on his radio, you can hear a hiss of static after he releases the button (breaking the squelch.) You only hear this when you are receiving a message on any radio, never when you are transmitting.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Irwin: Take a look at a castle. Any castle. Now break down the key elements that make it a castle. They haven't changed in a thousand years. 1: Location. A site on high ground that commands the territory as far as the eye can see. 2: Protection. Big walls, walls strong enough to withstand a frontal attack...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Inside the Walls of 'The Last Castle' (#8.2)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Concerto for Oboe, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in D Major

Filled with both strengths and weaknesses

Most of the raves and pans you will read of this movie are equally true in their own respects. For my money, the film's weaknesses slightly outweigh its strengths but I can easily see someone else's scales tipping the other way.

The performances are splendid all around. Most especially, James Gandolfini (who had the inside track with the most richly drawn character) excels as the ambiguous villain who is actually right more than half the time.

The message which deals with the value of pride and the importance of identity and self-worth is certainly admirable. The fact that this occurs among men who have marred their own self-worth through violent crime makes the concept that much more interesting. It almost (but never quite) raises the idea of reclaiming integrity, once lost. If it had gone this extra mile, it may well have been a better film.

The weaknesses lie in the hundreds of stupid little inaccuracies which culminate into one stupid BIG inaccuracy: This place doesn't feel like a prison!

It is difficult to make a prison movie within ten years of 1994 without inviting comparisons to "The Shawshank Redemption." Rather than belaboring the obvious, I want to note one detail that is exemplary of the earlier film's superiority. Even the jolliest, funniest, most easy going prisoners in Shawshank had an underlying sense of danger about them. You didn't want to get on their bad side. You never doubt that they belong in prison (except, of course, for Andy Dufresne). But this is not so in "The Last Castle." No matter how often someone reads from a prisoner's file and discusses the horrible things he has done, none of the words, actions, or other moods conveyed by the men in this film make them seem in any way dangerous. Maybe it's a case of mass miscasting but I doubt it.

Compounding this problem is the lack of scholarship to be found in the little details. Robert Redford shaves with a safety razor in spite of the fact that no prisoner would be allowed such a tool. Razor blades, like belts and shoelaces, are potential suicide tools and, thus, prohibited in prisons. Also, people keep referring to an officer's side arm as his "gun" instead of his "weapon." These mistakes were easy to avoid and yet they remained in the film.

All of this makes a potentially fascinating film, filled with talent, seem a touch removed from reality. Like in "The Contender," director Rod Lurie has shown that his view of reality is based on his opinions rather than the other way around.

With all it had going for it, it's a shame really.