The Last Castle

Totally absorbing with fast moving plot
The film stars Robert Redford as a 3-star general who has been stripped of his rank and sent to a military prison run by James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos" fame. From the beginning there is conflict between the two men as Redford views Gandolfini as a tin soldier who has never been in real battles. As the film goes on, we see Gandolfini as nothing short of a sadist who punishes the men severely for every infraction of his silly rules. The story moves fast and the audience identifies with the plight of the men who have lost their pride in being soldiers. Redford orchestrates psychological strategies to rattle Gandolfini as well as armed conflict. The plot moves so fast and is so involving that I got totally absorbed in the film, rooting for the prisoners as they fought for dignity under Gandolfini's heavy hand.

Redford is a good actor and played his part well. He has lines in his face, which make him look real. James Gandolfini is magnificent and shows the range of his acting...

A Prison Drama We Have Seen Before, But Still Engaging
Director Rod Lurie's follow-up of "The Contender" raises his patriotic tone higher than before, and gives an intriguging setting of the film, but as he did before, sacrifices its potentially complex nature of patriotism. Instead of making full use of the interesting situation, "The Last Castle" goes in a very familar territory where many previous prison dramas have treaded before. But ... here's an irony ... the film is very engaging and entertaining as the latter.

Robert Redford is General Irwin (and three-star general), who disobeyed a direct order from the President and was found guilty at court marshal. Irwin, now stripped of his honor, is sent to the prison where Col. Winter (James Gandolfini) maneges with strict rules. At first, Irwin was thinking of nothing but "doing time, and going home," dreaming of the day (ten years ahead) when he can play chess with his still unseen grandson. But the situation around him, which is so severe for some inmates of the prison, wakes...

"The Last Castle" is action-packed and emotional!!
"The Last Castle" is among one of the best prison dramas that I have ever seen since...ever! It is so thrilling, so entertaining that you would have to see it again and again! And Robert Redford's performance just couldn't be better! "The Last Castle" focuses on General Eugene Irwin (Redford) a three-star general who is being sent to a military prison for defying a presidential order, but did so heroically. There, he meets Colonel Winter (an excellent James Gandolfini), who has the utmost amount of respect for the general. Winter is a man who has never seen combat, and when Irwin sneeks a peek at Winter's battlefield memorabilia, that's when we know that they won't be seeing eye to eye for a long time. The other inmates, among them are Mark Ruffalo as the prison booky, Yates, decide to go to the general about the treatment of the prison. And that's when the real war begins! General Irwin rallied up the other prisoners into taking over the prison as a result of protesting the sadistic...

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