Want to see what a movie star looks like? Pop a copy of “Cool Hand Luke” into your DVD player.

Paul Newman stars in it, of course, and he arguably never took control of the screen like he does here. Sure, Newman’s been great in everything from “The Hustler” to “Slap Shot” to “The Verdict,” but in this movie, in his early 40s, playing a classic movie rebel, he displays so much charisma it’s scary.

From the first scene in the movie, you’re rooting for Newman’s Lucas Jackson (he doesn’t get the nickname until later), even though you can’t quite figure out what he’s up to.

Half in the bag, he stumbles down a line of parking meters, casually cutting the heads off each one. Not only is he not stealing the coins within, he’s not even fleeing the scene of the crime.
When a cop inevitably shows up, Luke smiles, pops the top off another beer bottle, and waits to be taken to jail.

Trouble is, instead of jail, Luke winds up in a good ol’ fashioned prison camp, the sort of Southern-fried hellhole made infamous in movies like “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang.” The work is back-breakingly hard, but the other cons are a close-knit bunch (standard in movies, if not in real life).

There’s a period of adjustment, of course — and a knock-down, drag-em-out brawl with George Kennedy — but soon enough, Luke — re-christened “Cool Hand Luke” — becomes their de facto leader.

That promotion — and the fact that Luke refuses to back down, no matter what — does not endear him to the camp staff, however, specifically captain of the guard Strother Martin.

He recites the movie’s classic line, “What we have here is failure to communicate,” and he’s not wrong. No matter what the guards do to him — and they do a lot — Luke is not going to play by their rules. When they do their worst and throw him into a sweatbox instead of letting him attend his mother’s funeral, that starts a cycle of escape and capture that you know in your gut isn’t going to end well.

“Cool Hand Luke” has a strong script, beautiful cinematography (from the late Conrad Hall) and an amazing cast, but this is Newman’s movie through and through.

Not only does he play one of the coolest cons in movie history, but also he becomes a genuine Christ figure before the credits roll. If the shot of him laid out on the table, crucifixion style, after eating 50 eggs wasn’t enough, the image of him in the sweatbox, draped in white and lit by a heavenly glow, should clue you in: Luke is no ordinary prisoner, and the movie isn’t going to end with him getting his parole papers.

Besides a remastered widescreen print of the film, Warner Bros. new “Cool Hand Luke” DVD features commentary from Newman biographer Eric Lax, the original trailer (which repeats the “failure to communicate” line over and over) and a documentary tracing the making of the film.

That doc features just about every surviving member of the cast but unfortunately doesn’t include input from Newman. I don’t know if he was too busy or too sick (he hasn’t been doing well lately), but it’s still a nice tribute to him.

Judging by everyone’s comments, though, he’s a heck of a nice guy — and obviously he starred in one heck of a movie.

Contact Will Pfeifer at wpfeifer@rrstar.com or 815-987-1244. Read his Movie Man blog at blogs.e-rockford.com/movie man/.

See clips from ‘Cool Hand Luke’ online at rrstar.com.

Some DVDs out today…

“Baby Mama”
“The Big Lebowski: 10th Anniversary Limited Edition”
“Cool Hand Luke”
“The Fall”
“Fox Horror Classics Collection: Vol. 2”
“How the West Was Won”
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3”
“The Outlaw Josey Wales”
“Pet Sematary”
“Ugly Betty: The Complete Second Season”

And CDs…

Jessica Simpson, “Do You Know”
LL Cool J, “Exit 13”
Natalie Cole, “Still Unforgettable”
Dar Williams, “Promised Land”
Mitch Hedberg, “Do You Believe In Gosh?”
Joan Osborne, “Little Wild One”
Michael Franti, “All Rebel Rockers”
People In Planes, “Beyond The Horizon”
Calexico, “Carried To Dust”
The Subways, “All or Nothing”

Source: dvdtalk.com, tophitsonline.com