THE LAST CASTLE (2001) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Rod Lurie
Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo,
Steve Burton, Delroy Lindo, Clifton Collins Jr.,
Paul Calderon, Brian Goodman, Jeremy Childs
An exciting action fantasy (and a literal flag-waver) set in a military prison, starring Robert Redford as a general doing hard time and James Gandolfini as the martinet colonel who runs the joint with an iron fist. The story's on the level of a comic book, but as comic books go, it's a good one, outlandish and viscerally satisfying. You know exactly who to root for, and against, and Redford gives it real movie-star class. The ending's ambiguous - there's that thing with the flag - leaving you to wonder who's won, who's lost, and what, if anything, has been accomplished.
