18 Comments

  1. Delynn Royer

    Enjoyed your post! Great movie. It’s a perfect product of its time and yet it never gets old. Always leaves me feeling unsettled. One of Newman’s best performances.

    • Thanks, Jess! I hope you’re a fan of this one too. I’ll admit that I was first introduced to it in Reality Bites. I hope you won’t judge me for that. I kinda hate (given how annoying Ethan Hawke was in that role) that he first introduced me to such an amazing character.

  2. Insightful analysis of the character and the actor. I admit I’ve never seen this film (I know! What’s up with that!) but I loved your review nonetheless. It’s hard not to respect Paul Newman.

    Thanks for joining the blogathon with this iconic film. An overview of 1967 would not be complete without “Cool Hand Luke”.

  3. Great post! This is my favourite Newman role, he just seems to wear it so well and so easily, and because of it I’ve always had the actor and the role a bit muddled in my head. I’m not sure if it’s me, but I always associate this with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; and I feel the same about Jack Nicholson’s role as RP McMurphy…

    • Thank you! I was thinking of the exact same thing as I wrote it. So much is similar–the rebellious character who has a huge impact on the others, but pays a heavy price for his rebellion. And both Nicholson and Newman just find acting “cool” so very natural:)

  4. Hands down my favorite Newman film. He draws us in with a likable character who does himself no favors. I always like to think that the character he plays in Nobody’s Fool is what might have been had Luke lived to be an old man. Who knows, maybe he did.

  5. You made a great point about the film. There is no doubt that, in the final scene, what we see is Luke in the same position as Jesus in the cross, so it comes exactly together with you writing about one alone standing and giving example.
    And the egg scene traumatized me for life. I can’t stand hard-boiled eggs!
    Don’t forget to read my contribution to the blogathon! 🙂
    Greetings!
    http://criticaretro.blogspot.com.br/2014/06/o-fabuloso-dr-dolittle-doctor-dolittle.html

  6. My husband and I have always liked this movie, and for many years the famous line about communication has worked its way into our conversations and made us laugh. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about the movie. Especially how you compared Paul Newman’s character in the movie with himself, and also Christ. Thanks for a great review!

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