jimbo-53-186511 Decorated and respected General Eugene Irwin (Robert Redford) finds himself court-marshalled after disobeying orders and ends up being sent to a military prison. When he arrives there, he is stripped of his rank and now finds himself having to answer to Colonel Winter (James Gandolfini) who uses somewhat questionable methods in order to run his prison. Irwin is not happy with the way Winter runs things at the prison and with the help of his inmates he makes a play to overthrow Winter and his brutal regime...On the whole, I enjoyed The Last Castle although it's fair to say that this is not the most briskly paced of films; the first half of the picture is painfully slow and repetitive and it does seem to take an awful long time to make its point. This inevitably takes away some of the enjoyment from the picture and makes the film feel a little uneven.However, once Irwin starts to rally the inmates then things do pick up and the film does become a lot more energetic. The section where the inmates overthrow Winter is entertaining and quite imaginative - although there are some section of this that seem a bit unrealistic (such as how the inmates manage to create/devise/build their various weaponry and devices without any of the guards noticing at any point?The acting from the big name actors is fairly good; Redford is a good presence and gives a cool and rather low-key understated performance. Gandolfini also does a decent enough job even if he feels like more of a caricature than a real person. Ruffalo is good in support and his character is of some interest, but little is really done with him - this extends to several other characters who are mostly thinly drawn. The only other person of interest to me was Steve Burton who could be a professional Sean Kanan lookalike (I actually thought he was Sean Kanan until I saw the credits rolling at the end). The plot thickens though as it turns out that Steve Burton is related to Sean Kanan by marriage - scary!!!If you can make it past a fairly slow paced first hour then this film more than compensates your patience by a much more enjoyable second hour. I do feel that this film would have benefitted from more editing and the way I see it is that The Last Castle would have made for an excellent 90 minute film, but at 130 minutes it's too long and as a result of this it is merely a good film.

gaykathleen This is a very good movie. One mistake by the leading character at the beginning of the story probably changed the course of the following events. Don't deconstruct someone's obsession with a collection and memorabilia especially when you are part of that. Redford's character provided a hero and a leader at a time when it was very much needed. People in powerful positions can use their power to make a difference or to do wrong. When two men stand off using their power to control and shape others' lives they better have the intestinal fortitude to see it through. The acting is good. It is about American patriotism and leadership. There are choices to be made and sides to be taken. Although not an American I felt pride and respect watching this movie. There is a lack of female characters but it was about men in a men's prison.

ashleybrownmedia A military prison run by a heavy-handed warden (James Gandolfini) is the setting for this action drama.A disgraced three star military General (Robert Redford) is sent here to serve a sentence for a miscalculation that led to the deaths of a few of his troops.Things tick along okay for a while, but soon Redford and Gandolfini cross paths and the rest is history. Military history.Redford leads a rebellion against the warden, and soon wins the respect of the other men. This leads to one of the most fun finales that I've ever seen in a film - where the prisoners fully rise up and take on the guards.Things start out a little slow, which might put off fans who are looking for pure action, but as we reach the second half of the film things begin to pick up.There's also a subplot where Delroy Lindo plays one of Redford's colleagues, and the two men still have a good companionship. As Gandolfini's nefarious antics hit a fever pitch a lot of the film focuses on getting the audience hopes up that Lindo will arrive in time to help save the day.The cast here is great and, in another world, The Last Castle could easily have been a classic - however it falls short, hence my 7/10 rating. Some films have that 'wow' factor that can't be predicted or can't be measured, and The Last Castle doesn't quite have that.

armoredtanker This movie is an affront to the military by a leftist who hates the military and the USA. A 4 star US Army General allowing soldiers to murder civilians! really? As a veteran of the US Army this movie is a joke. There is no way that a US 4 star General would allow something like that to happen! oh and the prisoners are innocents abused by the guard! silly and so predictable! not worth the time. No wonder Redfords movies fail at the box office. All his movies are themed towards his bias' and have a communist leftist spin. Avoid this movie!Oh and the Prison Commandant, A Colonel allows abuse and murder to occur. No officer in the military who risk his life, career and reputation to abuse anyone under his charge!