The Last Castle is two-thirds a good, solid movie, and one-third a ridiculous Hollywood extravaganza. Which isn't to say the Hollywood extravaganza isn't entertaining, it's just not as credible or stirring as the material that precedes it.
The premise is basically The Shawshank Redemption inserted into a military prison. There's a respectable, likeable newcomer thrown into the confines of a prison who clashes with an unjust, detestable warden. As in The Shawshank Redemption, the newcomer opens the eyes of his fellow prisoners.
The eye-opener is General Irwin (Robert Redford), an American hero now sentenced to military prison for disobeying an executive order. He served in Vietnam, was a POW for six years, and then returned home to rise in his military career, eventually commanding troops in the Gulf War and Bosnia. I couldn't help but be reminded of John McCain.
Even the detestable commander of the military prison, Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini), disagrees with General Irwin's sentence. Irwin shouldn't be going to prison, "they should be naming a base after the man," the Colonel quips.
The newly incarcerated General and the commander of the prison meet right away in the Colonel's office, with classical music playing lightly in the background.
The Colonel obviously has a lot of respect for Irwin, and he treats him with all the courtesy he can muster for a prisoner, which is much more than he normally affords a convicted soldier. When Winter asks Irwin what he wants out of his time in prison, Irwin answers, "nothing — do my time and get out." That's a perfect answer, Colonel Winter points out.
If that remained true, there might not be much of a movie, but as luck would have it, the General is a natural leader and he soon attracts the attention and respect of the prisoners. When it becomes clear that there is a problem — the illegal abuses of Colonel Winter — Irwin feels it's his duty to act. He's a good man, and watching this film I was reminded of how inclined I am to moral passivity.
As admirable as Redford is as General Irwin, and it's enough to help carry the movie for a long time, it's not enough to save the film from the final act. I'm not spoiling the movie by revealing that the inmates attempt to take control of the prison. And when this occurs, ridiculous implausibility ensues, as only Hollywood could imagine.
There's a contraption built — I guess from all the spare parts that normally lie around a military prison — that hurls huge rocks into the air; the machine is tucked away in a little corner of the prison yard for when it's needed.
Not to worry, though, because no guards will notice the huge creation. It's only 30 feet tall.
And don't forget the homemade grenade launchers or the prisoner who crashes a helicopter but miraculously survives. But despite these blemishes and many other hard to believe occurrences, The Last Castle manages to end on a more serious, if not sentimental note.
Irwin and Winter are fascinating to watch; two soldiers with very different backgrounds and very different philosophies. And most of the movie preceding the takeover is interesting and believable, minus a subordinate officer of Winter's who sports frosted tips. An Army officer with frosted tips? Maybe he was the guy who made the rock hurler thingy.
