• Cool Hand Luke (1967)

    When petty criminal Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden (Strother Martin) or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline (George Kennedy), who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement...

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Cool Hand Luke
91
metacriticBased on 11 Critics
90
Based on 28 Users

Release Date: November 1st, 1967

DVD Release Date: June 25th, 1997

PG |2 hr 9 min

Plot Summary

When petty criminal Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden (Strother Martin) or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline (George Kennedy), who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, Wayne Rogers

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Genres: Drama

Production Co: Warner Brothers, Jalem Productions

Distributors: Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros. Pictures

Keywords: 1950s, Escape, Underdog, Cool, Prison, Brash, Moving, Police officer, Fall, Mother

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 88
    James BerardinelliReelViews

    Cool Hand Luke is a metaphor for the social climate in which it germinated. Luke represents that segment of the population who will not submit, no matter how viciously they are beaten. They repeatedly rise up, convinced not only of the rightness of their actions, but that, in the end, they can make a difference. In the midst of the burgeoning '60s cultural revolution, it's impossible to ignore. show more

  • 100
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    Luke is the first Newman character to understand himself well enough to tell us to shove off. He's through risking his neck to make us happy. With this film, Newman completes a cycle of five films over six years, and together they have something to say about the current status of heroism. But Cool Hand Luke does draw together threads from the earlier movies, especially Hombre, and it is a tough, honest film with backbone. show more

  • 75
    Bill WeberSlant Magazine

    Newman remains watchable and glamorous throughout, bloody, muddy or coated in torso-flattering sweat, but the film’s efforts to sentimentally humanize him by psychological revelation are clumsy. show more

See all critic reviews on metacritic.com

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Awards

Nominated Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Golden Globes (1968)
Nominated Actor
Oscars Academy Awards (1967)
Nominated Writing (Screenplay - Based on Material From Another Medium)
Oscars Academy Awards (1967)
Nominated Music (Original Music Score)
Oscars Academy Awards (1967)