Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is one of those "classics" that just misses out on being an all time great. I have it right up there with The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape. Thoroughly enjoyable yet a bit flawed.
Paul Newman is Luke, a decorated war veteran and petty criminal sent to a Florida work prison on a two year stint for vandalising parking meters. Upon arrival we meet the Captain, Dragline and....well that's about it. The rest of the convicts are pretty much there to fill in the scenery and hoot and holler when Luke does some pretty extraordinary things and that's my only real gripe with Cool Hand Luke. We never get to know any of the other prisoners. I mean, Lucille's "titty car wash" gets more screen time than just about any of the other characters.
Now, in fairness, this is a Newman showpiece all the way and he's fantastic. I liked Dragline as a character but Kennedy's portrayal felt a bit goofy. It was like the movie had a bit of that old school hammy acting (Kennedy) mixing with the newer, more realistic/natural style of acting (Newman). I felt like that had an affect on the tone of the film just a tad.
Cool Hand Luke breaks down into two halves - the first is Luke impressing his fellow cons with outlandish acts of... stubbornness, willpower? The second is Luke vs. the Establishment. The second half is much better, imo. Strother Martin, as Captain, is fantastic for the little time he has and the "What we've got here" line he delivers is worthy of its reputation. I'll put that line up against "Fasten your seatbelts..." or "Frankly, my dear..." for greatest movie line any day of the week (well, maybe not Frankly, my Dear...I actually did the Ace Ventura "YES! YES! YES!" when that happened)