Contains Spoilers!! THE LAST CASTLE is the kind of good near-miss film that, in a way, is much more frustrating than a film that is truly and unredeemably awful. People watch a film like KUNG POW! ENTER THE FIST and know (if they hated the film--I'm assuming most people who saw that abomination didn't like it very much) that nothing could have been done to save it. But THE LAST CASTLE is a movie that's faraway and so close; the things in it that work aren't blotted out by the stuff that doesn't, but they are overshadowed to an unfortunate extent.
What works? Simply put, the performances, especially the lead performances, are superb. Robert Redford has never had a problem playing characters who are leaders, who are used to getting what they want. The brilliant twist on that, presented through General Eugene Irwin, is that Redford doesn't just start out not really wanting anything, he basically finishes the film that way too. Oh, he wants Colonel Winter to lose his job and to give the ex-soldiers in the prison their pride and respect back, but he wants nothing for himself--after he concedes that he will not have a chance to have a relationship with his daugher and grandson. That 1 scene with Robin Wright Penn ends up selling, believably, Irwin's turn from wanting to do his time quietly to being a martyr for the cause of others. He doesn't even seem to hate Winter that much, he's just disgusted by him, and driven to show that he's a better military man at 10% of his resources than Winter is at 100%. Mr. Redford is great at showing a man who lives for the burden of command, even though that burden has left him imprisoned and could kill him.
James Gandolfini is even better as Winter. It's very interesting, the way Mr. Gandolfini changes his persona so subtly to fit the role of Winter. Obviously, one difference is that his voice is almost deathly silent, a fair cry from the booming rage/joy/commanding nature of Tony Soprano, but his voice is also leeched of emotion; there's none of the introspection and black humor his Leroy had in THE MEXICAN. Something bad happened to Winter (never revealed explicitly what that was) that ruined him. He knows that he is all that he can be and that it's not nearly enough, and that Irwin either has the parts he's missing or had the life that enabled him to find them. The brilliant development in Rod Lurie's script is seeing how much Winter hates himself, and is ultimately not surprised that Irwin doesn't even care enough to hate him in return. This was an Oscar-caliber turn by Mr. Gandolfini. The other performances are on the sides, but Mark Ruffalo, Frank Military, Clifton Collins, and Steve Burton are all great in roles with rich characterization but limited screen time. And Delroy Lindo commands the screen in his brief turn as a General who doesn't even try to hide that he believes every word of Irwin's over Winter's.
That's what drives the first 3/4 of THE LAST CASTLE and is very compelling. Unfortunately, 90 minutes of terrific filmmaking are badly undercut by the poor finale. Oh, in a dramatic sense this kind of climax is good, and the final scene is actually good, but the action scenes here are pathetic. There's no clear sense of action, the items the prisoners use are deus ex machina overkill, and the climactic effort (by Ruffalo's helicopter pilot) had me snickering when I should have been enthralled. So it was a mixed bag, but when a movie keeps you going for most of a 2 hours+ length and has such great acting, it gets a positive overall review.
Note: Some folks have criticized the "flag-waving" material in the film and said it reeked of hyper-patriotism after 9/11. THE LAST CASTLE finished filming long before 9/11, and the emphasis on the American flag in the plot of this movie is not only appropriate, but intelligent in showing the role of the flag in military leadership. Ironically, the early posters for THE LAST CASTLE featured an upside-down American flag (the distress signal), which were quickly (and also appropriately) changed after 9/11 to ones with Redford's and Gandolfini's faces.
What works? Simply put, the performances, especially the lead performances, are superb. Robert Redford has never had a problem playing characters who are leaders, who are used to getting what they want. The brilliant twist on that, presented through General Eugene Irwin, is that Redford doesn't just start out not really wanting anything, he basically finishes the film that way too. Oh, he wants Colonel Winter to lose his job and to give the ex-soldiers in the prison their pride and respect back, but he wants nothing for himself--after he concedes that he will not have a chance to have a relationship with his daugher and grandson. That 1 scene with Robin Wright Penn ends up selling, believably, Irwin's turn from wanting to do his time quietly to being a martyr for the cause of others. He doesn't even seem to hate Winter that much, he's just disgusted by him, and driven to show that he's a better military man at 10% of his resources than Winter is at 100%. Mr. Redford is great at showing a man who lives for the burden of command, even though that burden has left him imprisoned and could kill him.
James Gandolfini is even better as Winter. It's very interesting, the way Mr. Gandolfini changes his persona so subtly to fit the role of Winter. Obviously, one difference is that his voice is almost deathly silent, a fair cry from the booming rage/joy/commanding nature of Tony Soprano, but his voice is also leeched of emotion; there's none of the introspection and black humor his Leroy had in THE MEXICAN. Something bad happened to Winter (never revealed explicitly what that was) that ruined him. He knows that he is all that he can be and that it's not nearly enough, and that Irwin either has the parts he's missing or had the life that enabled him to find them. The brilliant development in Rod Lurie's script is seeing how much Winter hates himself, and is ultimately not surprised that Irwin doesn't even care enough to hate him in return. This was an Oscar-caliber turn by Mr. Gandolfini. The other performances are on the sides, but Mark Ruffalo, Frank Military, Clifton Collins, and Steve Burton are all great in roles with rich characterization but limited screen time. And Delroy Lindo commands the screen in his brief turn as a General who doesn't even try to hide that he believes every word of Irwin's over Winter's.
That's what drives the first 3/4 of THE LAST CASTLE and is very compelling. Unfortunately, 90 minutes of terrific filmmaking are badly undercut by the poor finale. Oh, in a dramatic sense this kind of climax is good, and the final scene is actually good, but the action scenes here are pathetic. There's no clear sense of action, the items the prisoners use are deus ex machina overkill, and the climactic effort (by Ruffalo's helicopter pilot) had me snickering when I should have been enthralled. So it was a mixed bag, but when a movie keeps you going for most of a 2 hours+ length and has such great acting, it gets a positive overall review.
Note: Some folks have criticized the "flag-waving" material in the film and said it reeked of hyper-patriotism after 9/11. THE LAST CASTLE finished filming long before 9/11, and the emphasis on the American flag in the plot of this movie is not only appropriate, but intelligent in showing the role of the flag in military leadership. Ironically, the early posters for THE LAST CASTLE featured an upside-down American flag (the distress signal), which were quickly (and also appropriately) changed after 9/11 to ones with Redford's and Gandolfini's faces.