Last Castle (2001)

The original poster pulled after the 9/11 attack

 THE LAST CASTLE died at the box office in 2001. Released a month after the 911 attacks I don't think anyone wanted to see a film where bad things happened to  good people at the hands of capricious fools. This would be especially true when you consider that the film could be seen about the danger of having people without experience at the helm. Looking back almost two decades on it reveals itself to be a neat little thriller worthy of rediscovery.

The plot of the film has Robert Redford as a court marshalled general thrown into the brig. He sent men on a mission against orders and men died. He is placed into a prison run by James Gandolfini an officer who admires Redford but takes offense at his comment that he doesn't understand what a real warrior would do. Gandolfini is also a stern and cruel disciplinarian, over doing it on every punishment. Redford takes offense and begins to try get Gandolfini out of the prison. 

A solid battle of wills the film the film works best when the actors are set loose. Redford is strong and heroic, Gandolfini is a quietly evil monster, who seems like a sweet guy until the he's not. The unspoken signaling for a guard to kill an inmate who refuses to lay down is chilling.  The other actors Delroy Lindo, Mark Ruffalo, Clifton Collins, and the others in the stellar cast sell the events, even as the plot sometimes feels contrived.

While a nifty thriller in it's own right, the film is also a quiet allegory about the abuses of power. Gandolfini's warden may have the right stuff on paper but isn't the right man in actuality. He has never been in battle and thus never truly learned to lead. Its a intriguing theme about the leadership of America. It is also one that America didn't want to hear in 2001 (the original poster of an upside down American flag- the symbol for distress, was pulled and replaced).

I really liked this film a great deal. I just wish it hadn't taken me almost two decades to discover it.