The Last Castle review

Based on the definitive titles of his films, director Rod Lurie obviously likes to keep things simple. But while last year's The Contender was an entertaining if slightly melodramatic debut, his follow up The Last Castle is simply banal. The early promise Lurie showed is never in evidence in this heavy handed and crass drama that is as predictable as it is absurd. It's also sad to see the once authentic Redford reduced to a wrinkled parody.

The Last Castle is the nickname of the converted military prison originally built as a fortress. The irony of its once intended use of keeping people out is not lost on its inmates who keenly await the arrival of a special new inmate. Lieutenant General Eugene Irwin (Robert Redford) is a legendary figure whose spectacular fall from grace is accentuated by the spectacular height from which it began. Accused of disobeying an order that resulted in the death of several of his men, Irwin now finds himself incarcerated alongside some of the very soldiers he once commanded. Even more expectant than the inmates about the high profile arrival is the Tower's chief warden, the ruthless Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini). "They should be naming a base after the man, not sending him here", states Winter, who's intimidated by Irwin's military achievements which overshadow his own.

The success of The Last Castle is largely contingent upon how convincing Redford is as a rugged war veteran. Unfortunately the answer is not very. It's difficult to reconcile his soft voice, mellow demeanour and perfectly groomed golden locks with the tough and feared reputation of Irwin. Redford seems too intent on playing it cool than playing it real. Even when forced to shift huge boulders all day in the blistering sun as a punishment, Irwin doesn't break sweat. Indeed the film exhibits little interest in maintaining a degree of credulity, preferring instead to manipulate emotions and the story with unsubtle and implausible incidents.

Once ensconced, Irwin is quickly made aware of the deadly lengths Winter is prepared to go to maintain discipline and order within the Tower. Despite promising a suspicious Winter that his only objective was "just to do my time and go home", one brutal incident convinces Irwin that he can't sit idly by and do nothing and so he begins to rally the inmates around his cause to have Winter relieved of his duties. The ease and speed with which Irwin is able to manipulate the prisoners is as comical as the gesture with which it's achieved. With a strict policy of no saluting enforced, Irwin flaunts the rule with a motion that starts as a salute before the hand sweeps through the hair, a move that may well have been devised by Redford as a way to frequently check his preened locks.

Gandolfini seems uncertain about how to balance Winter's bullying tendencies with his more sensitive nature, creating a character who's as undefined as his appointment is unlikely. The shopping list of inmates contains the usual assortment of thugs, losers and hustlers, none of whom are sketched in anything more than a crude outline. The only time things liven up are when Delroy Lindo shows up as the dynamic and engaging General James Wheeler, brought in to mediate between Winter and his one time colleague Irwin, but alas his appearance is all too brief.

The Last Castle plays out to its dramatic but inevitable conclusion, which includes a timely and over sentimental glorification of the American flag, by which time the film's unadulterated trite coating, layered on by director Lurie and writer David Scarpa, makes you wonder whether being incarcerated in the Last Castle wasn't preferable to watching it.