The Last Castle

The Last Castle (2001) takes place in a military prison and comes down to a contest between two men. General Irwin is a three star officer with a reputation across the army. He is sent to military prison for disobeying an order that cost eight soldiers their lives. Colonel Winter, who runs the prison, has never fought, never been in the field, and keeps Irwin's books on his shelf. That is the artery of the film. What Winter feels for Irwin is not hatred but unreturned admiration. On the first day Irwin makes an offhand remark, Winter hears it, and from then on it is personal. The middle turns into a story about mutiny, and the way the prisoners organise is the most enjoyable part of it. Irwin treats them like soldiers, and they choose to become soldiers. The balance between Robert Redford and James Gandolfini is well judged. Gandolfini was in the middle of The Sopranos here and plays an entirely different kind of hardness: soft voiced, never shouting, brittle authority. Many find the finale too sentimental, and they are not wrong. It runs 131 minutes. Good for: prison films, military drama, and films built on a clash of character. Less good for: there is violence, and the last half hour is almost entirely action.