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Movies / On DVD / Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke

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Cool Hand Luke (1967)

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Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:43

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.7/10

Consensus: Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.

Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In this classic Southern prison drama, social misfit Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman) is incarcerated for a petty crime and sentenced to a chain gang. Luke is a sullen and laconic young man whose... In this classic Southern prison drama, social misfit Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman) is incarcerated for a petty crime and sentenced to a chain gang. Luke is a sullen and laconic young man whose cool defiance of the sadistic warden and bullying inmates earns him the title "Cool Hand Luke." But as the prisoners' respect for Luke grows into hero worship, he finds that he must risk everything in order to live up to their expectations. Filled with dozens of memorable scenes (Luke eating 50 eggs) and quotable lines ("What we have here is a failure to communicate."), COOL HAND LUKE is a testament to excellent screenwriting (Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson) and Newman's charm and skill as an actor. The film also features an outstanding supporting cast that includes George Kennedy, Strother Martin, and early screen appearances by Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton. [More]

Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet

Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Clifton James, Morgan Woodward, Luke Askew, Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Screenwriter: Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson
Producer: Gordon Carroll
Composer: Lalo Schifrin

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Cool Hand Luke

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Bubble View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
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5/5

Kim Newman

One of those movies you remember Great Moments from.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 22 2008 10:42 AM

Empire Magazine

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Paul Newman in his blue-eyed prime.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 22 2008 10:31 AM

Channel 4 Film

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Tom Milne

A caustically witty look at the American South and its still-surviving chain gangs, with Newman in fine sardonic form as the boss-baiter who refuses to submit and becomes a hero to his fellow-prisoners.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 09 2006 03:17 AM

Time Out

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5/5

Joe Utichi

A seminal work.

comment Comment | Sep., 23 2004 02:27 AM

FilmFocus

tomato
4/5

Robert Levin

No review available.

comment Comment | May., 02 2009 03:43 PM

Critic's Notebook

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Dave Kehr

Stuart Rosenberg's direction is a horror, but the cast teems with so many familiar faces that this 1967 film can't help but entertain.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 23 2009 12:43 PM

Chicago Reader

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3/4

David Nusair

Anchored by Paul Newman's thoroughly magnetic performance...

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 16 2008 05:10 PM

Reel Film Reviews

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3/4

Bill Weber

Newman remains watchable and glamorous throughout, bloody, muddy or coated in torso-flattering sweat, but the film's efforts to sentimentally "humanize" him by psychological revelation are clumsy.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 09 2008 05:52 PM

Slant Magazine

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4/5

Chris Cabin

The lines and the character have survived the film's oft-forgotten actual message.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 05 2008 12:00 PM

Filmcritic.com

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Cool Hand Luke now seems more like a well-made entertainment than any kind of American masterpiece.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 04 2008 09:04 PM

Combustible Celluloid

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10/10

John J. Puccio

...most viewers will have little failure understanding the movie and its motives. They communicate brilliantly.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 26 2008 11:24 AM

DVDTown.com

tomato

A picture of chilling dramatic power.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 22 2008 10:39 AM

TIME Magazine

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5/5

Too cool for words, then switches past midstream into a work of poignancy and power.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 22 2008 10:32 AM

TV Guide's Movie Guide

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4/4

Peter Canavese

Preserves a time when one could not only get away with making an allegory with an existential hero, but stock it with an ensemble from the Actors Studio. [Blu-Ray]

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 21 2008 08:16 AM

Groucho Reviews

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Variety Staff

Newman gives an excellent performance, assisted by a terriffic supporting cast, including George Kennedy, outstanding as the unofficial leader of the cons who yields first place to Newman.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 22 2008 03:15 AM

Variety

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B+

Emanuel Levy

Paul Newman and George Kennedy are at their best at this popular prison drama, which drew on the Depression era film, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Quote to remember: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate."

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 04 2007 01:03 PM

EmanuelLevy.Com

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A-

Nick Davis

Thematic ambivalence and episodic structure start to feel like major virtues: Cool Hand Luke is one of our most lived-in and pleasurably paced odes to nonconformity.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 15 2006 09:13 PM

Nick's Flick Picks

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3.5/4

Jay Antani

gorgeous looking and terrifically acted

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 20 2006 07:09 PM

Cinema Writer

tomato
5/5

Cole Smithey

No review available.

comment Comment | Jan., 06 2006 05:37 PM

ColeSmithey.com

tomato
5/5

Brad Laidman

An amazing accomplishment by Newman as the best fight man has left in him.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 06 2005 08:00 PM

Film Threat

 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Cool Hand Luke

September 27, 2008: Paul Newman Dies at 83
Academy award winner Paul Newman, one of American cinema's most iconic actors, died Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. after a long battle with cancer. He was 83. More...

November 16, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Casino Royale" Fresh, Certified Fresh; "Happy Feet" Shows Fancy Footwork; Guess The Tomatometer for "Prison"
This week at the movies prompts several questions. Will the latest Bond movie ("Casino Royale," starring Daniel Craig) leave pundits shaken and stirred? Can penguins... More...

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