User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. I went way too many years without watching this movie again, so when Cinemark included it in the summer classic film series, I was in my seat nice and early. Mention this movie and the first thing people do is quote one of the most famous lines in movie history: "What we have here is failure to communicate." No question that's a great line. But there is so much more to this movie and it holds up beautifully 45 years later.

Based on the novel by Donn Pearce, who spent two years on a chain-gang, this is the story of Luke (Paul Newman) who just can't bring himself to conform to the rules, regardless whether those be the rules of the military, society, prison, or those self-imposed by the convicts. We are introduced to Luke as he drunkenly cuts off the top of parking meters on main street of a small town. Later, in a throw away line, we learn he was gaining revenge on someone. It's the clear indication that while he doesn't always want to fit in, Luke clearly knows right from wrong.

There are so many terrific scenes in this film, that it's not possible to discuss each. Every scene with the prison warden, played by Strother Martin, is intense. Each of the Boss guards are frightening, especially Morgan Woodward as the sharpshooter behind the mirrored shades. There are numerous impactful scenes featuring the group of convicts. Even though we learn little about the individuals, we realize the fragile male psyche is on full display. Despite the power of all of these characters and scenes, the real strength of the film is the relationship between Luke and Dragline (George Kennedy). Watching the early cat and mouse game, and the subsequent transfer of power, feature two amazing actors at the top of their game.

George Kennedy rightfully won the Best Supporting Actor award and continued on to become one of the most successful and prolific character actors of the 70's and 80's, and his career culminated with his iconic role in the Naked Gun series. As for Paul Newman, this is one of his best performance in a long line of standout performances. This one is in the middle stage of his career and he exuded manliness with a touch of sensitivity. He and Strother Martin would meet again in one of the best sequences of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Watching Luke win over all the convicts, including the previous leader played by Kennedy is stunning, yet gut-wrenching when offset by the scenes with the guards who are hell bent on getting Luke to understand his place. They understand the risk he poses to the systematic rhythms of the prison.

The supporting cast is downright incredible. This was the feature film debut for: Ralph Waite (4 years later he became the beloved paternal figure of TV's The Waltons); Joe Don Baker(Buford Pusser from Walking Tall); James Gammon (later the crusty manager in Major League); and Anthony Zerbe, another iconic character actor of the 70's and 80's. Also featured are Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton (singing a few songs), Wayne Rogers (from MASH), Richard Davalos (James Dean's brother Aron in East of Eden), and Rance Howard (Ron's dad as the sheriff). In a brief, but truly great scene, Jo Van Fleet (also from East of Eden), appears as Arletta, and we quickly understand Luke's background.

Often overlooked by film historians, "Lucille" putting on a show for the convicts as she washes her car, is a scene that is meant for more than titillation. As she creatively buffs the windows, the reaction of the convicts reminds us that these are still men and no amount of humiliation and degradation can change that. One of my friends argues that Joy Harmon was clearly cheated out of an Oscar for this scene.

The score is the handy work of Lalo Schifrin and expertly captures the moment ... especially in the black top scene. Director Stuart Rosenberg was known only for his TV work when he got this script. He went on to direct another prison movie in 1980 called Brubaker. Starring Newman's Butch Cassidy co-star Robert Redford, the film was a decent prison drama, but not at the level of Cool Hand Luke ... which by the way, was installed into the National Film Registry in 2005.

Truly a memorable movie, and more than just a documentary about southern road gangs. It's a study on the theme of the indomitability of the human spirit in the face of oppression. I was about to name this as Newman's finest performance until I thought of Eddy Felsen in "The Hustler" and Frank Galvin in "The Verdict"; it's impossible to choose among such a cornucopia of acting achievements, but Luke is right up there (the analogy to Luke as Christ becomes a tad heavy-handed when we see him, at the close of the egg-eating scene, stretched out, arms outward, feet crossed, as if crucified; none the less, it's a powerful image). There is no doubt, however, about George Kennedy as Dragline; it is his finest achievement, and fully deserves the Oscar he got for Best Supporting Actor. It is also fascinating to find so many familiar faces among the inmates - actors such as Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker, Ralph Waite. and Wayne Rogers - who would go on to fame in their own right. This movie can unquestionably be called a classic. American Movie Classics just started (11/2000) showing a beautifully restored letterbox version which shows it in all its glory.

This film got me from the first frame to the last. It's not even because of the story (which I love, of course) - it's just so very well made. And so modern. The kind of angles and perspectives the camera uses, the way it zooms in and out or even allows itself (literally) to get dirty - the way this whole picture was shot is just something I haven't seen in an American film released prior to this one.

And yet, although it is considered a classic, when people talk about the "New Hollywood" somehow 'Cool Hand Luke' is hardly ever mentioned - despite the fact that it came out only a couple of months after 'Bonnie and Clyde' in 1967 and before 'The Graduate'.

I look at this film mainly as a character study but the story arc also works very well and it hasn't aged a bit. This is one of those rare films that was way ahead of its time and which has simply everything: great acting, iconic characters and scenes, wonderful music - and the cinematography is just unbelievable.

Funny, tragic and moving, 'Cool Hand Luke' is one hell of a film. What we've got here is NOT failure to communicate - but a 10 star masterpiece.

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

**** (out of 4)

Paul Newman plays the title character, a man who just can't reform to the rules in life and can't reform to the rules when sent to a chain gang. This is certainly without question one of my favorite movies and it certainly had a large impact on my life when I watched it as a teenager. I hold this film very close to my heart and especially the character of Luke but even without the personal feelings this remains one of the better movies out there. Some have called it a prison movie but I think that's really an insult because the film is so much more than that including one of the best character studies out there. The film has so many laughs, so many painful moments and so many dramatic moments but I think the true heart of the film is in its honesty towards Newman's character. There are countless great scenes including the legendary egg eating contest but one of my favorites has always been the ending with Newman talking to God inside the church. Needless to say, Newman is brilliant in the role and while it's hard to say which one performance of his is his greatest this one here is awfully close. You can really see Newman sticking his heart and soul into the role and you really can't imagine anyone else playing the character. George Kennedy also deserved his Oscar and Strother Martin makes for one great villain.

Having had the advantage of reading Donn Pearce's novel about a year before seeing Cool Hand Luke, it was with great anticipation that I awaited it's transfer to the big screen. I was not disappointed.

Cool Hand Luke could easily be classified by the misguided as just a prison yarn, but it is so much more than that. It is the story of a man who refuses to be nailed down or conform to the rules and regulations of a society that he has never craved to fit into. When Lucas Jackson is arrested for cutting heads off parking meters, his explanation to the prison captain(Strother Martin) is "Small Town, not much to do in the evening", which would have us believe he was just being drunk and stupid. Later, to one of the other inmates he mutters the same answer, but importantly adds "just settlin some old scores". It is a brief but important point in helping to define the character of Luke beyond just being drunk and damaging public property. As a service man, we also discover that Luke won a bronze star, achieved the rank of sergeant but came out as a private. Again, early evidence that Luke is unable to conform to any body's rules but his own. Yet, we are given clear evidence that Luke knows what is right in principal and what is wrong. At one point in the film when they are putting Luke in the box under less than reasonable circumstances, he tells the boss, "calling it your job don't make it right, Boss." In a visit from his mother Arletta(Jo Van Fleet), Luke says plenty about his own character by telling her, "A man's got to go his own way" or as he also puts it, "I tried to live always free and above board like you but I can't seem to find no elbow room".

As Luke enters the prison that will supposedly be his home for the next two years, we meet the other inmates. Some of them wear chains, some of them do not. It is a point early in the film that director Stuart Rosenberg, emphasizes. We understand quickly that sooner or later you conform. You either walk the line the way the bosses tell you to, or they will find the means to get you to walk the line. As the Captain reiterates, "for your own good, you'll learn the rules" A point driven home often.

What we discover about their crimes is minuscule. One is jailed for manslaughter after hitting a pedestrian with his car, another is a paper hanger, another new inmate is charged with breaking, entering and assault. The nature of their crimes is unimportant to us. It enables to view these prisoners as men, and while we don't feel any genuine sympathy for them, feeling disgusted by their crimes would have been a distraction from the true purpose of Pearce's story, and Luke as the focal point.

Because of his individuality, it doesn't take Luke long before he unexpectedly becomes a hero to the other inmates. It is not a role he chooses, or even wants. It unexpectedly imposes the burden on him of having to live up to the expectations of others. He never truly understands the nature of this hero worship, and would be just as happy if he didn't have to deal with it. He is still trying to find his way in the world, and if there is any real purpose for his existence.

Another principal character is Dragline(George Kennedy). It is he who finally establishes the fact that Cool Hand Luke is a man who can not be beaten. Dragline's admiration for Luke seems to extend from the fact that he(Dragline)has learned the rules on how to get by, but yet regrets having lost some of his own individuality in the process. He is the rest of the inmates in microcosm. I can't remember a role that George Kennedy has ever been better in, and he deservedly won the best supporting actor award.

Cool Hand Luke is not without it's humorous moments especially in the early going. It is these moments that help move the film from the early stages to the darker more despairing later stages. Perhaps, for that reason alone we are even more effected by Luke's dilemma.

In translating his novel to the screen Donn Pearce along with Frank Pierson, has managed to bring the heart and soul of his nove to the big screen. Lalo Shifrin's memorable score emphasizes often the repeated drudgery of working on the chain gang. Director Stuart Rosenberg made more good films after Cool Hand Luke, but in my opinion never achieved the same degree of perfection that he does here.

As Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman give one of the most memorable performances in a long distinguished career. It is not an easy task portraying a man who travels the road from being a sincere individualist, to a man who may be beaten and defeated, yet in the end is still unwilling to accept that fate. Although Rod Steiger won the best actor award that year, one could argue that Newman's role was more difficult, as it required substantially different subtle ranges in character. As for the failure of Cool Hand Luke to achieve a Best Picture nomination, I'm at a loss to explain that malfunction, especially when the likes of Doctor Doolittle and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, far lesser efforts than this were nominated.

Cool Hand Luke is a true classic in every sense of the word. It is a film that will long be remembered.

My grade: A+

I first saw "Cool Hand Luke" the first week it came out. Went to see it with my father at a theater on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. We were just a few blocks away from the hospital where my Mom was dying of cancer and we just needed a break. It was cathartic. Feeling as beat up and left for dead as I was at the time, I came across a character who knew how to take the punches. "Luke" is a beautifully crafted film. Not one wasted frame or moment. Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson's screenplay is nothing less than a working man's parable of a truly good soul who just couldn't seem to get a break. In ways, it could be said he truly didn't let himself. But the strength within Luke that would not let him compromise who he was for who he was told to be, the resilience to fight back against those who tried to fight him on that was inspirational. Whether it was a carefully chosen remark or just one of them Luke looks, They knew They couldn't knock him out no matter how badly They knocked him down. Seems he handled life like that, and it was an example I've clung to and have tried to follow in the almost fifty subsequent years. Conrad Hall's cinematography was breathtaking, providing the scope of all the integral parts of the story with the immediacy of all the most intimate moments. Any single frame could hang on your living room wall as the centerpiece. The cast: Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin, Lou Antonio, Ralph Waite ... and George Kennedy. Academy Award Winner George Kennedy. "Dragline". The most unforgettable "gentle giant" I believe I've ever seen on the silver screen. Each and every one of them, in all their glory and in the simplest of nuances, helped raise Paul Newman's masterful portrayal to an ever higher level, maybe his best work ever. The character is very much the story in "Cool Hand Luke" and the ensemble brings it to life. Frustrating, challenging, confusing, pain- in-the-ass life with just enough of that rebellious spirit to bring hope to those facing some of their tougher times. I saw the film four more times that first year, and probably twice each year since whenever I could find it. Check in with Luke and the boys for a breath of fresh air and some world-shaking hope. Can't speak for anyone else, but Luke is right up there with Atticus Finch for me when it comes to celluloid heroes, these are the two whose stories got me through some really, really bleak times. And for me, "Cool Hand Luke" was ultimately a story of hope. The story of a man who never gave in. Never gave up. And never stopped grinning. All that they piled on him, all they tried to bury him under ... just wasn't worth his getting worked up over. Wasn't gonna get to his spirit.

This is my favourite film, ever, just beating Bullitt by a whisker, and Paul Newman is one of my favourite actors, Laurence Olivier is supposed to be the best ever, but his forte is theatre, for movies I believe Paul Newman and Steve McQueen are better in the format, in this case I am talking about Mr Newman, his portrayal as Luke is spot on, one of the best ever movie acting performances.

I should not need to say more, however the supporting cast & director were all great, Strother Martin and George Kennedy played it brilliantly, Stuart Rosenberg directed brilliantly, it was well photographed, all the scenes looked so real, I felt I was in the mid-south of USA for a while. the music was also great.

It was also a stylish film, I don't know if it was the period or what but for me most of the best stylish films in history came from the 60's, and they all had a kind of style, not all the same style but all done well, and this is the best.

It has always been and always will be one of the best movies ever.

"I'm shakin' it boss, I'm shakin' it"

Set in the rural south, a man serves time on a chain gang after vandalising parking meters. When inside, he stubbornly refuses to bow down to anybody, be it the prison authorities or his fellow inmates. Soon, though, he becomes a symbol of hope to the other prisoners and his rebellious nature teaches them that their integrity is the most important thing they have.

This anti-authoritarian film is very much in a similar mould to Bonnie and Clyde which also came out in 1967. In both of these films the establishment are shown to be the bad guys and the criminals anti-heroes deserving of our sympathy. With this in mind it would only be fair to say that, like Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke could be regarded as one of the very first New Hollywood movies. It certainly is a film which indicates that the cinematic norms were changing. It's also one of the first of a new type of prison drama which tried to reach for more authenticity. In many ways it is a precursor to the classic incarcerated-man-against-the-system movie One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). For me, it's not in the same league as that one but it's pretty obviously a very influential work. It benefits from a good ensemble cast, with Paul Newman leading the picture very well, with impressive support in particular from George Kennedy who would go on to win an Oscar for his efforts.

I like Paul Newman, he is very likable while being suitably brooding and intense in his films. To me, as much as I do like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cool Hand Luke is my favourite movie of this great actor. What of Newman himself? Well he is just superb here, very cool and charismatic as well as the skills he is best at. The cinematography is also a delight, the Technicolour is just stunning, and Stuart Rosenberg's direction is a career-best. The dialogue is crisp and memorable, and the story is beautifully constructed. As for any memorable scenes, the prologue and the egg-eating scene are classics, the film succeeds adeptly at being a character study and I for one had no problem with the religious symbolism. Lalo Schifrin's music is very nice too. So all in all, if you love Paul Newman, you will love Cool Hand Luke. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Highly rated film that I don't rate that highly, if truth be told. There's plenty to savour, particularly in the acting stakes but I was ultimately confused and disappointed by the resolution to the various themes at play here.

The enigmatic opening, with Newman's Luke character casually vandalising the state's parking meters amusingly recalled to me the famous tag-line from Bob Dylan's near contemporaneous song "Subterraneaen Homesick Blues" - "Don't follow leaders and watch the parking meters", (both parts of the line are relevant - at one point he screams "Stop feeding off me" to his "follower" inmates) as Luke gets incarcerated in a brutally-run Southern prison work-house and becomes the unlikely and from his point of view, at times unwelcome talismanic figure representing to his fellow inmates a focal point of resistance to authority and in a wider sense, general conformity.

And yet this self-effacing persona which Luke adopts more than once however doesn't square, with me, to the self-publicising acts he does elsewhere, most famously the fight scene with the prison's "Big Daddy" inmate, Dragline, played by Arthur Kennedy and of course the egg-scoffing scene, where he deliberately draws attention to himself. I also didn't get Kennedy's character's change (adapting Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men") from George to Lennie, when after punching Luke to a pulp and establishing one would think once and for all superiority over him, we see him by the end almost acting as his lackey. Add to that an admittedly revisionist minor revulsion at the blatantly sexist soft-porn episode of the tongues-out chain gang ogling a scantily-clad nymphet foaming up a car and you can tell I had some issues with the movie, although a minor counter-case against the latter could be made for the insertion of the very mild homo-erotic and played for laughs sub "Jailhouse Rock" scene of the prisoners dancing with each other, dressed only in their shorts, on the 4th of July.

The ambiguities in the narrative however threw me off-kilter and while I can see that I was expected to cut Newman's character a lot of slack as a societal misfit whose "different-ness" is accentuated further after his beloved mother dies, ultimately, again to paraphrase Dylan, nothing has been proved. As to style, director Rosenberg certainly captures the heat and sweat of the workhouse but even then a lot of his imagery seems second-hand, lifting from the likes of Leone and Sturges. Lalo Schifrin delivers a satisfactory if occasionally blaring soundtrack.

The acting is great though, yet I'm sure I can see Steve McQueen playing the Newman role better. Arthur Kennedy is robust enough until he's reduced to a simpering wimp by the conclusion. Strother Martin, with that enervating southern drawl gets most of the best lines (especially the well-known "What we have here is a failure to communicate") and his underlings similarly exude cruelty and inhumanity, especially when breaking Luke over the pointless digging of a ditch. Amongst the inmates, by the way, it's interesting to note emerging actors of the television screen like Wayne Rogers ("M.A.S.H."), Ralph Waite ("The Waltons", "Mississipi") and Anthony Zerbe (everything else...) plus the young (Harry) Dean Stanton and Dennis Hopper.

Grandstanding scenes notwithstanding, by the conclusion, the film hadn't held me as it should have done and further weakened its case as an expose of the working methods of jail-masters of the recent past with a sentimental collage of Newman's smiling image set before us with all the integrity of an episode of the afore-mentioned "The Waltons".

Released in 1967 and directed by Stuart Rosenberg based on Donn Pearce' novel, "Cool Hand Luke" is a prison drama starring Paul Newman in the eponymous role as a loner who disdains rules in the early 50s. He is sentenced to two years on a prison farm in Florida run by a stern warden, the Captain (Strother Martin), and guarded by a stoic rifleman, Walking Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward). Carr (Clifton James) the floorwalker, tells the rules to the new prisoners with violations resulting in spending the night in "the box," a small square room with limited air and little room to move. George Kennedy and Dennis Hopper are on hand as fellow prisoners, amongst many others.

I was wondering about the totally stoo-pid reason Luke gets 2 years in prison at the beginning of the film. He likely got a ticket for a "violated" parking meter while in town. So he has a few beers, gets his mitts on a big pipe cutter, and thought, "I'm gonna show these jerks."

"Cool Hand Luke" has a big reputation but, for me, it doesn't quite live up to it. The highlight is the iconic car wash sequence with Joy Harmon, as well as the ending when Luke talks with God about why He made him such a misfit. The rest is a decent prison drama about an eccentric individualist who inspires those around him stuck in the same pen. It's a character study of a likable, impressive, but unruly person who doesn't seem to grasp that getting sloshed and destroying public property has negative repercussions. Gee, maybe you shouldn't try to solve your problems by getting drunk and vandalizing. The movie is realistic and well-made, but generally tedious, although I'm sure that's the point – being confined on a prison farm WOULD be tedious. The Christ typology is interesting, however; and I can understand how some grade it higher.

The movie runs 126 minutes and was shot Tavares & Jacksonville, Florida; and San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, California, with studio work done in Burbank.

GRADE: C+ (5.5/10)

One of the reasons that the late 60s/early 70s was such a powerful era in filmmaking is the emergence of the anti-hero (defined as an individual with heroic qualities, but not in a position we would usually find a hero). This is symbolized greatly in `Cool Hand Luke'. We can identify with Luke because his crime is venial and his concerns over the great questions of life are ours. It is because of this and his persuasive charm that the other prisoners (played remarkably well by Kennedy and a host of others to include Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Dennis Hopper and one of the actors who played a crewmember on `Alien') live vicariously through him.

Filled with memorable scenes (the boxing match, 50 eggs, the fealty of his fellow prisoners who help him finish his food after his stomach is shrunk in solitary confinement, `shakin' it here boss', the sneezing dogs, and of course the carwash part) and outstanding character development (created by what is said and what is not said, i.e. the visiting brother), one of screen history's most repeated lines and the great acting of Newman, this movie deserves to be called a classic. Released the same year as `Bonnie and Clyde', it makes one long for the days when you needed a real script to make a movie.

Paul Newman was nominated for an Oscar and George Kennedy received one for his work in this allegorical prison drama. Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to a stretch on a southern chain gang after he's arrested for drunkenly decapitating parking meters. While the avowed ambition of the captain (Strother Martin) is for each prisoner to "get their mind right," it soon becomes obvious that Luke is not about to kowtow to anybody. When challenged to a fistfight by fellow inmate Dragline (George Kennedy), Luke simply refuses to give up, even though he's brutally beaten. Luke knows how to win at poker, even with bad cards, by using his smarts and playing it cool. Luke also figures out a way for the men to get their work done in half the usual time, giving them the afternoon off. Finally, when Luke finds out his mother has died, he plots his escape; when he's caught, he simply escapes again. Soon, Luke becomes a symbol of hope and resilience to the other men in the prison camp -- and a symbol of rebelliousness that must be stamped out to the guards and the captain. Along with stellar performances by Newman, Kennedy, and Martin, Cool Hand Luke features a superb supporting cast, including Ralph Waite, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, and Joe Don Baker as members of the chain gang.

This is an absolute perfect movie in every way.Storyline,acting,settings---everything is perfect.Hollywood used to make great movies like this before it became the special effects driven computer generated movie making schlock capitol of the world.

The great Paul Newman plays a prisoner locked up in a Southern jail after a night of petty crimes.His constant struggle to be free even while locked up makes this one of the greatest roles ever seen in a movie.Newman is at his absolute peak playing the cool Lucas Jackson.I was so struck by Newman's performance in this movie I was determined to name my son Lucas Jackson,but alas,I only had daughters and my wife wasn't too thrilled about naming either of them Lucas.Oh well.

George Kennedy plays Jackson's enemy turned buddy and he is absolutely perfect also.His portrayal of Dragline is Kennedy at his finest.The sublime Strother Martin plays the prison captain and damn is he ever good.He was always so underrated as is Kennedy too,I think.

In fact this whole movie is full of familiar faces that would go on to other big time roles in TV and movies.In this movie everyone meshes perfectly to create an unforgettable movie that will stay with you long after many other movies you've seen fade from memory.

You must see this movie.

The movie moves at a good pace, and it's fun to watch. There isn't much of an arc to the story.

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

A movie famous as an anti-establishment send-up and for the charming, smiling Paul Newman. Worth seeing for either reason. It does have comic moments to talk about--egg eating among them--and it has an especially low point for the treatment of women, even though it is justified internally by the characters. Most of the time it's a well paced, well acted chain gang movie, with one getaway (that's no spoiler--all prison movies have getaways) that is an homage or ripoff of the 1932 LeRoy chain gang movie to beat all chain gang movies.

Because the movie is clearly set in the past, it doesn't indict the prison system directly, but does critique the problem of authority, and of what exactly is a punishment suitable for petty crime. I don't know if the title character (played by Newman) is an anti-hero exactly (he lacks any true badness) but there is no doubt by halfway through who the true good guy is. And by the end, the Christian symbolism is overwhelming. If Cool Hand Luke the man isn't quite what you think of as messianic, he still does at least show what it means to be good in very ungood circumstances. It's a complicated thing to be a hero, and to survive those who are threatened by those better than them, and in the end, that's what the movie is about. Compelling if never amazing, and most of all enjoyable.

"Cool Hand Luke" is a classic cult film. Lots of people love it and it's ranked very high in the IMDb Top 100 list. While I, too, like the film I can't say I am quite as sold on the film as the crowd--I think it's very, very good but wonder if perhaps it's a tad overrated. But, there certainly is a lot to like about it as well.

Let's first talk about the good. The acting is exceptional. The fellow chain gang members are made up of LOTS of very familiar faces--as is like a Who's Who of character actors. Additionally, the stars of the film (George Kennedy and especially Paul Newman) are great--and at the top of their game. Additionally, the writing and especially the dialog are great. But, the writing, while very, very good also left me a bit cold at the end with its vague ending. Additionally, the film is very episodic and seemed a bit disjoint. Still, it is a heck of a good film--and one that probably would appeal most to guys (I have NEVER met a woman who loved the film, though I am sure there are plenty who will read this and take exception).