The Sopranos Star Slams His Boot On A War Hero’s Neck In Suspenseful Action Drama
Sometimes, a movie has a strong enough cast that it’s worth watching just for the performances alone. One movie that definitely falls into that genre is The Last Castle, which features lead performances from Robert Redford and the late great James Gandolfini. If you want to check it out, you can stream the film over on Amazon Prime Video now.
Redford Vs. Gandolfini
The Last Castle follows a highly decorated and respected US Army Lieutenant General (Redford) who is court-martialed and sent to a maximum-security prison known as the Castle after disobeying orders. He meets the dictatorial warden (Gandolfini), who runs the prison with an iron fist. Instead of putting up with the injustices, the general rallies the other inmates to start a rebellion against the warden’s rule.
Along with Robert Redford and James Gandolfini, The Last Castle has some other great ensemble cast members like Mark Ruffalo, Delroy Lindo, Clifton Collins Jr, and more. The film is directed by Rod Lurie with a screenplay by David Scarpa and Graham Yost. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews, and it bombed at the box office, only bringing in $27 million against a $72 million budget.
The Sopranos Was A Massive Hit At The Time
The Last Castle definitely has been forgotten since its 2001 release, which is surprising considering the strength of its cast. The movie also came out at the height of Gandolfini’s fame, as the actor had just finished filming Season 3 of The Sopranos. With a legacy actor like Redford and a popular TV talent like Gandolfini, you would think the film would have had a little more attention.
Critics And Audiences Were Underwhelmed
The reviews of The Last Castle do help clarify why it has been mostly forgotten in Hollywood history. While the cast is incredible, many critics point out that this is really one of the only good things the film has going for it. Alonso Duralde of The Advocate said, “The Last Castle is pretty much every prison movie cliche and every mutiny movie cliche you’ve ever seen.”
In other words, The Last Castle certainly doesn’t do anything new or interesting with the well-trod ground of prison movies, and you’d be better served watching something like The Shawshank Redemption if you’re hoping for a much better example of the genre.
Stefan Pape of Common Sense Media didn’t exactly give it a glowing review but was more accepting of the film’s cliched nature, saying, “A movie that deals with somewhat conventional cinematic territory, this 2001 prison action drama is elevated by the sheer brilliance of the cast assembled.” This makes sense, considering you have titans like Redford and Gandolfini go toe-to-toe in the film.
A Typical Prison Movie
While watching two fantastic actors face-off is sometimes enough to sell someone on a movie, it sometimes makes it worse knowing that they weren’t given great material to make the most of their collaboration. Essentially, every critic review says some form of this about The Last Castle, with Desson Thomson of the Washington Post pointing out that the movie commits the sin of being predictable. Thomson’s review sums it up by saying the movie “Devolves into a mundane warden-versus-inmate conclusion.”
Streaming On Amazon
If you’re looking for groundbreaking in the realm of cinema, then it seems like The Last Castle might not be your cup of tea. However, if you’re looking for a pretty standard prison movie with performances from some of the best actors of our time, then it might be worth checking out. Either way, you can stream it now on Amazon Prime Video.
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