Last Castle, The (2001)

Starring: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Rod Lurie

Rating: R

Studio: DreamWorks SKG

Review Posted: 10.30.01

Spoilers: Minor

Rating: 1/4

By Craig Younkin.

Last year director Rod Lurie gave us the intelligent political thriller "The Contender", but my how he has fallen! His new film, "The Last Castle", is not only a dumbed down action movie, but it is also offensive to the intelligence of the people watching it. There is no film this year that infuriated me more than this piece of junk.

The film sadly stars Robert Redford as a three star army general named Eugene Irwin. After a botched mission that left many of his men dead, Irwin is sentenced to ten years in a maximum security military prison run by a warden named Col. Winter (James Gandolfini).

Winter is enamored with the man, and feels that a base should be named after him instead of a prison sentence. But his view of him is changed almost immediately when Irwin insults him behind his back. From this we see that the main focus of the film will be a constant war between these two men.

The prison is being poorly run. Inmates have been shot at and beaten under the barbaric orders of Col. Winter, and they want someone to help them get him out. Irwin becomes the candidate for that and somehow he manages to turn these animals, murderers, and drug dealers into a fighting unit again. How does he do that? Through the same old paper-thin load of crap that always disguises itself as motivational dialogue in these types of movies.

"The Last Castle" is a disaster. A dramatically lacking and fraudulent movie that thinks is being patriotic but is actually the furthest thing from it. This film's use of the flag and the fact that these American prisoners are rebelling against a corrupt force are supposed to fill you with a great amount of the American spirit, but how can you care or feel sorry for Military traitors. These are people who showed negligence of other human life while just going after their own benefits, and the script never gives us a reason to show any sympathy toward them.

This is also an exercise in an excruciatingly large amount of pure hero worship. The level of inspirationalism in this movie is completely ludicrous and eye rolling. How else do you explain a scene where Redford is forced to carry heavy stones back and forth, while every prisoner around him stops to cheer him on. Or another scene where they bang their military chains against the bars of their cells because of his mere presence.

"The Last Castle" is also the most simplistic film I've seen this year. So simplistic in fact that it thinks its audience is as dumb as it is.  It feels like half of the terribly long 2 hours and 10 minutes are spent explaining things that we already know.

Robert Redford doesn't deserve a film like this. This is the second actor of the year, in addition to Paul Hogan in "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles", who plays an action hero who looks more suited for a desk job. And I can describe Gandolfini using only one cliché "oh how the mighty have fallen". He's a good actor trapped in the character body of a doofus. You begin to think that this man can easily stop this uprising by transferring Irwin or by breaking up the group of people who are always around him, but he never does any of those things because then the movie would be over.

"The Last Castle" is honestly one of the biggest disasters of this year. I'll admit that the last 20 minutes of action are rather exciting, but that still doesn't draw your attention away from the damage that has already been done.

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