Golpe bajo: El juego final

After seeing this flick again last year after I don't know how long, at first I wondered why I used to really like this film. But after watching the whole thing to the end, I remember why. This is one of those films that generated a whole bunch of "copy-cat" movies, none which are even worth remembering (or seeing). Sure, it's a macho-man movie, but it works, and to see the talent (both actors and ex-pro ball players) on the screen, this is a movie you can watch over and over. By the way, it was refreshing to see the widescreen DVD version which was just released.

Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest stars of the '70s, but like a lot of '70s stars (Faye Dunaway, Michael Serrizan, Karen Black, etc.) other decades have not been so kind to him. Here he stars in one of his finest films, "The Longest Yard," made in 1974, directed by Robert Aldrich, and also starring Eddie Albert, Michael Conrad, Ed Lauter, James Hampton, and Bernadette Peters.

Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a football player who goes to prison after he hits his ex-girlfriend, steals her car, and runs it into the river. He's a football player with a scandal in his past, when he was suspected of shaving points off of a game.

The sadistic warden (Eddie Albert) wants him to organize a football team for the prisoners so that they can play the guards. The real agenda is that on the football field, the guards will be able to practically beat the prisoners senseless. With the help of Caretaker (James Hampton), Paul chooses a football team and starts training them. On the day of the big game, he gets an offer that he should refuse but might not be able to.

This is a really fine film. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it's one of those movies where you wind up rooting for the bad guys. Reynolds' character learns self-esteem, pride in his work, and also a sense of camaraderie. The football game itself is very exciting.

"The Longest Yard" is a film that holds up well, and not the usual type of prison movie you'd see today. And Bernadette Peters' hairdo is a no-miss!

The Longest Yard refers not to the territory gained and lost in a football game. For Burt Reynolds its that prison yard that he's in for the next 18 months.

Reynolds isn't one of the noblest athletes ever to grace the National Football League. He was a quarterback who was thrown out of the game in a point shaving scandal. Now he's doing time for stealing his mistress's Maserati and causing a lot of havoc and mayhem when she called the cops on him.

The Longest Yard starts to look a little like From Here To Eternity where Monty Clift's company captain Philip Ober wants him to box for the post championship. Reynolds really isn't interested in playing football any more or helping warden Eddie Albert out with his semi-pro team of prison guards. But he's got less redress than Clift did in the army and Reynolds is not a person to make too fine a point of resistance.

What Reynolds suggests is a tune-up game with a squad of the inmates to play the guards to keep them in a fighting edge. Sounds real good to Albert who has a mean streak in him that Reynolds is slow to realize. There's a lot of possibilities to inflict some legal pain and for him to reassert his authority.

The Longest Yard is first and foremost about what Reynolds will do when the crisis comes. His track record doesn't suggest any heroics, but some people do surprise you.

The antagonists Reynolds and Albert are given good support by director Robert Aldrich's picked cast. Foremost among them are Ed Lauter as the chief guard, James Hampton as the team manager, and Charles Tyner in a particularly loathsome role as a prison stoolie. He will really make your skin crawl.

Bernadette Peters is also in The Longest Yard as Albert's secretary with the delightful name of Miss Toot who takes advantage of her position with a little sexual harassment of the prisoners. I do love that Dickensian name that was given her for this film. The only other female of note is Anitra Ford who is Reynolds mistress and whose Maserati he appropriates. When Burt says he earned that Maserati you can well believe it.

The Longest Yard is in a class by itself, a sports/prison movie. A film that created it's own genre. That has to count for something.

Bitter former football player Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) gets into a physical fight with his girlfriend and gets sent to prison. Everybody dismisses Crewe for suspected point shaving. Warden Hazen (Eddie Albert) manages a semi-pro football team of prison guards. Captain Knauer (Ed Lauter) leads the team and orders Crewe from joining. Hazen is not happy with Knauer's result. Crewe reluctantly agrees to organize a prisoners team and play an exhibition game.

I don't mind the Adam Sandler version but it's nothing great. This version is so much better. It is darker. It's not as jokey but the black comedy hits so much harder. It starts dark with Crewe hitting his girlfriend. At first, it doesn't even seem like a comedy except for Burt's casual sly mannerisms. It reminds me of other serious prison dramas until it turns more into a sports movie. So it works as both genre. It has great emotions and touching relationships. It's a good drama and has a great feel good development. It essentially works in all areas.

If there ever was a manipulative film, this is it. By the end you are rooting for the prisoners (the nice guys, you know, armed robbers, murderers, rapists, child molesters) against those awful guards. Those poor sweet prisoners, being taken advantage of by those sadistic guards. Then there's the warden, Mr. Douglas from Green Acres, Eddie Albert. Rotten to the core. Bert Reynolds is his mugging best, first selling out, then winning one for the Gipper. It is violent, raucous, ridiculous from the stolen uniforms to the cross dressing cheerleaders. I am a non violent person, I knew everything was designed to work over my prejudices and my primitive feelings of revenge. And yet, when the game started, I was transfixed. I don't get it. Have I no taste?