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Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 44 | Rotten: 0

Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.

100

Average Rating: 8.5/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 0

Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.

audience

93

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 58,476

My Rating

Movie Info

Paul Newman was nominated for an Oscar and George Kennedy received one for his work in this allegorical prison drama. Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to a stretch on a southern chain gang after he's arrested for drunkenly decapitating parking meters. While the avowed ambition of the captain (Strother Martin) is for each prisoner to "get their mind right," it soon becomes obvious that Luke is not about to kowtow to anybody. When challenged to a fistfight by fellow inmate Dragline (George

PG, 2 hr. 6 min.

Drama, Classics, Comedy

Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson

Nov 3, 1997

Warner Bros.

Cool Hand Luke Trailer & Photos

More Trailers and Videos (2)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Cool Hand Luke

All Critics (44) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (0) | DVD (18)

Stuart Rosenberg's direction is a horror, but the cast teems with so many familiar faces that this 1967 film can't help but entertain.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A picture of chilling dramatic power.

August 22, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Newman gives an excellent performance, assisted by a terriffic supporting cast, including George Kennedy, outstanding as the unofficial leader of the cons who yields first place to Newman.

July 22, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A tough, honest film with backbone.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's as fresh and effective in 2004 as it was in 1967.

April 15, 2004 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

That traditional object of sorrow and compassion in American folk song and lore, the chain-gang prisoner, is given as strong a presentation as ever he has had on the screen.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...a gulag melodrama, if such a thing is possible.

July 8, 2010 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | Comment
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm

Anchored by Paul Newman's thoroughly magnetic performance...

November 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

The slick gospel of Luke is delivered with star sheen and ensemble luster in this middling package.

September 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Bill Weber
Slant Magazine

Newman remains watchable and glamorous throughout, bloody, muddy or coated in torso-flattering sweat, but the film's efforts to sentimentally "humanize" him by psychological revelation are clumsy.

September 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Bill Weber
Slant Magazine

The lines and the character have survived the film's oft-forgotten actual message.

September 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Cool Hand Luke now seems more like a well-made entertainment than any kind of American masterpiece.

September 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

...the very essence of everything good the man (Newman) ever did in movies. (Blu-ray Edition)

August 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

...most viewers will have little failure understanding the movie and its motives. They communicate brilliantly.

August 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis

One of those movies you remember Great Moments from.

August 22, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine

Too cool for words, then switches past midstream into a work of poignancy and power.

August 22, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Paul Newman in his blue-eyed prime.

August 22, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment
Film4 Source: Film4

Preserves a time when one could not only get away with making an allegory with an existential hero, but stock it with an ensemble from the Actors Studio. [Blu-Ray]

August 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Cool Hand Luke

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Though the film has flaws, the performances by Newman and the whole cast are just amazing.

March 28, 2012
Graham Jones
Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

The problem with Luke is that he's so "cool" that you can't really care for him, or his antics. I guess this is suppose to be a statement about sticking it to the man, never giving up or something like that. Sorry but Luke is no Kowalski, and he's not driving a bad ass car.

August 27, 2011
DragonEyeMorrison
Tsubaki Sanjuro

Super Reviewer

Cool Hand Luke Quotes

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    1. Boss Paul: Now I can be a nice guy, but if you trouble me, I can be a mean son of a bitch.
    – Submitted by Mark A (21 days ago)
    1. Captain: What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
    – Submitted by Jed G (40 days ago)
    1. Chief: What we've got here is failure to communicate.
    – Submitted by Yariv A (2 months ago)
    1. Lucas (Luke) Jackson: Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.
    – Submitted by Stephen H (10 months ago)
    1. Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
    – Submitted by Félix C (11 months ago)

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Latest News for Cool Hand Luke

January 3, 2010:
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September 27, 2008:
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Academy award winner Paul Newman, one of American cinema's most iconic actors, died Friday at his...

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Foreign Titles

  • Luke la main froide (FR)
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