Last Castle, The Review

Robert Redford lends his increasingly craggy presence to the role of 3-star General Eugene Irwin, a hero of Vietnam, the Gulf War and Bosnia who, for some barely specified infraction of army regulations, has been court martialled and sent to serve time in a military prison run by strict disciplinarian Col. Winter, James Gandolfini. Irwin has to behave like all the other military prisoners - there is no rank here, just subservience. But Irwin objects to the sadistic methods employed by the aptly named Winter, and, before long, becomes a rallying point for the other prisoners, a focus for rebellion against tyranny...This is a big disappointment from director Rod Lurie, whose last film was the far more interesting political drama, The Contender. Maybe it`s the fault of screenwriters Graham Yost and David Scarpa, but there are no shades of gray in these characters. Redford`s Irwin, despite his apparent crimes of insubordination, is full of moral rectitude, while the sadistic Winter, overplayed by James Gandolfini, is a monster through and through. The other prisoners, serving time for crimes which, again, are never specified, represent the masses who are encouraged to rise up against their oppressors - all in the name of justice and the American way, as the flag-waving finale makes all too clear. Not only is this a rather silly film, but it`s self-important and way too long.