Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The film opens with a drunken Luke (played by Paul Newman) cutting the heads off parking meters. He’s arrested, and then sent to a minimum security prison, where he has to learn to play by the rules — not an easy task for a “free spirit” like him.
As the new guy in the prison, Luke soon gets into various scuffles and differences of opinion. The most significant of these is when he crosses a man named Dragline (George Kennedy), who seems to be the leader of the other inmates. There’s a strict policy against fighting. The inmates can’t take it upon themselves to beat the crap out of each other, except on Saturdays when the guards put out boxing gloves for their use.
Dragline and Luke get into it, despite the fact that Dragline outweighs Luke by at least 40 pounds. Luke is easily beaten, but he refuses to give up or stay down. He keeps getting back up until Dragline gets tired of hitting him. The two become fast friends after that.
From there, we get numerous scenes of prison life, including the inmates’ work detail and the way they pass their free time by gambling and dancing. In one gambling incident, Luke says that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour — and does it… just barely.
Despite being sent away for only two years, Luke decides to try to escape the prison. The first attempt occurs soon after his mother dies, and he manages to stay away for a couple of months before being recaptured. Luke doesn’t fare so well the second time. Even though he’s unarmed and wiling to give himself up, he’s gunned down by one of the guards.
My Reaction: For me, Cool Hand Luke was one of those movies that I’d heard a lot about but had never seen. I mean, I never even saw a single scene as far as I can remember, never caught an airing on television or anything like that. I’d heard great things about it, and knew that it was one of Newman’s defining roles, so I decided to try it out recently.
I have to say that I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Perhaps the film was innovative for its time or something, and there were admittedly some interesting scenes (the hard-boiled egg bet immediately comes to mind), but taken as a whole, I thought it was pretty boring. How many scenes did we need to have of the men clearing the highway? Yeah, it was hard, dirty work. I got that the first time around, thank you very much.
And I seriously don’t get that Luke was supposed to be such a “cool” character. Why? Because he mostly rolled with the punches, said “Yes, Boss” when he had to and ate 50 eggs? Meh. This is supposed to be one of the all-time greatest characters in cinema? I guess I must have missed something (though I did notice all the Christ references. Are you kidding me??).
Perhaps I’m just too much of a modern viewer with unrefined tastes and a lack of appreciation for nuances in film. Because I thought Cool Hand Luke was boring and, well, pointless, I give it 2 stars out of 5.
Some of the things that I have noticed the second time I saw this movie. The first when I was a teenager, the second I was 49 years old.
I think that Luke believes he was abandoned by his mother. She spoiled Luke’s brother, who couldn’t take care of himself, so he got all the attention and eventually all the assets. Luke was deemed as strong and spirited and Mom felt he could fend for himself. So he has abandonment issues, therefore attachment issues. His mother seems to me to be a negative person. You can either accept this negativism and join in, “Misery loves company” or you can rebel against it.
Luke became rebelious. He won a purple heart in the army, but never was promoted past staff private. He could have become great, but he chose not to. I don’t know why he chose to do this, but I assume it’s because he feels the common man is more exciting to be around and being in the trenches is more exciting than being behind a desk. He needs the adrenaline rush. This can also be a part of Narcissistic behavior.
He rebelled against the injustice of the “Justice System” Two years of hard time for knocking off parking meter heads is pretty severe I think. He did this by showing off his superioiry, when the oil was placed on the roads, and thru his positive actions and a “work ethic” he convinced his cronies to work as hard as he did, get the job done quickly and as a result, the boys had a half day off. At this point, he won over the inmates and also he won over the prison guards. He now was on equal footing with the Father Superior…The guy who says: “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
Luke became the Hero in the inmates eyes. He also provided the fun atmosphere in this otherwise boring existence. The inmates expected him to bring them happines, and Luke provided that for them. He was the ultimate enabler. He was constintly being “used.” He knew it, but later rebelled against that as well. He was just captured, after escaping. He was laying down, broken, and he screamed “Quit feeding off me.”
He escaped, only after his mother died. Why? I believe that he spent his life trying to gain her approval, and he was not successful at this. Probably the only thing that he could not be successful at. He was a very successful person in his endeavors, and only at what he wanted and when he wanted it. He was always in control. After her death, maybe he just didn’t want to fight anymore.
Being raised Catholic, I was offended at the constant harrassment of Christ. But in that era, being in the South, I am sure religion was constantly preached and you could always count on the Lord to help you out. But Luke, the strong, independent, (cuz he had to be) never got help from anyone. You tend to get cynical about religion. He became his own, and those close to him’s, Savior. That is why he was laid out like a dying Christ.
Hi Carol,
Thanks for the detailed reply! It’s clear that you’ve put a great deal of thought into this film. I might have to see it again to try to pick up on all the things I missed the first time around. Thanks again for the comment!