The Last Castle
The Last Castle ★★½ 2001 (R)
Redford is Gen. Irwin, a legendary army officer sent to prison on a charge that isn't clear until well into the film. The warden of the prison, Col. Winter (Gandolfini), is a dictatorial collector of military memorabilia who clearly admires his new inmate. After overhearing a remark by Irwin disparaging his collection, Winter begins to resent him. Irwin witnesses the cruelty administered by the warden and begins to win over his fellow inmates' loyalty by restoring their pride. As Winter notices control of the men slipping away, his punishments grow worse, until finally Irwin leads the inmates in an insurrection. Although driven by powerhouse performances by Redford and Gandolfini, the plot spends too much time on the battle of wills and not enough on the background of the other inmates, while a storyline about Irwin's daughter is dropped altogether. 133m/C VHS, DVD . US Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Delroy Lindo, Steve (Stephen) Burton, Paul Calderon, Samuel Ball, Clifton (Gonzalez) Collins Jr., Frank Military, George W. Scott, Brian Goodman, Michael Irby, Maurice Bullard, Jeremy Childs, Robin Wright Penn; D: Rod Lurie; W: Graham Yost, David Scarpa; C: Shelly Johnson; M: Jerry Goldsmith.