Brubaker

BRUBAKER is my kind of movie; grim, realistic, stimulating and a story based around a great struggle between right and wrong. Robert Redford plays Brubaker (based on the real life story of one Thomas Murton of Arkansas, not to be confused with Thomas Merton, the poet) who tries to bring decency to an Arkansas prison that is corrupt from top to bottom. There are rotten scoundrels among the prisoners and some decent men as well. What is worse, Brubaker has to fight a State bureaucracy full of characters who are even more slimy and despicable than the worst of the prisoners. Along with basic reforms, he is out to uncover a series of murders, prisoners who were murdered and secretly buried. He is really up against it and its tough not to get emotionally involved. The writing and acting is more than ok. Redford is very good in spite of being a little too pretty for the rugged guy part. He's the only one in the movie with the 300-dollar blow dry haircut. This reminds me of the movie MARIE, another flick about a single warrior battling a corrupt state system. The Grape Nuts Guy (W Brimley) and the guy who played Mrs. Robinson's husband (M Hamilton)put in a good performance as despicable bureaucrats. Very little background music is another mature plus.

A good, feel-bad movie; and as a Bostonian, it's hard to hate a film that has a character in it named Fenway Park.

Enjoyed this film starring Robert Redford, (Henry Brubaker) who plays the role as a law enforcement officer who poses as an inmate at Wakefield Prison in Arkansas. Henry discovers many corrupt people in this prison and he eventually comes into power as the warden of this prison. This prison is ruled by corrupt politicians and prisoners who are working with prison guards who are stealing food and money from the prison funds. Henry also uncovers some buried graves of many prisoners who have been buried on the grounds of the Wakefield which starts a complete state investigation and changes some of the major problems at the prison. You will be surprised how this film ends and I must say that Robert Redford gave an outstanding performance in this film.

It's odd that whenever talk of Prison base films crops up you rarely see Brubaker mentioned as a viable piece of work, which to me personally is a damn shame because it's origin source provides a worthy story to be involved in.

Based on the writings of Tom Murton, a Prison Farm Reform Warden in Arkansas in the late 60s, the corruption and murder the film deals with is a very frightening reality, and although this film is obviously fictionalised to a degree, the evidence of the main themes can be found from many sources.

Robert Redford plays the title character who chooses to go into the prison farm as a convict to see at first hand how the Farm is run, what he sees shocks him to the core, which in turn rightly shocks the viewer as well. After learning all he needs to, he comes forward to take control of the Farm and tries to put an end to the torture, corruption and dank depression that is rife at the Farm. He has to deal with many obstacles along the way, and it's the strength of the man that has the viewer firmly onside all through the film.

The acting is emotionally spot on, the title role calls for a cool persona to not get flustered when faced with mounting resistance, and Redford delivers in spades. The main supporting cast of Yaphet Kotto, David Keith, Morgan Freeman, and Jane Alexander do very good work (believable), whilst the direction from Stuart Rosenberg ("Cool Hand Luke") is paced to perfection. The story is grimy and gnaws away at you, and then we get the ending that frustrates as much as it lifts the spirit, this is in my opinion a criminally undervalued piece of work. 8/10

In my summary, I say not to watch this film unless you he two and a quarter hours to spare. That's because I made the mistake of starting the film around midnight--intending to only watch a few minutes and then go to bed. However, at almost 2:30am, I was still awake--ratcheted to the TV screen watching "Brubaker" until its exciting conclusion.

The film is essentially the experiences of Tom Murton as warden of a hellish prison in Arkansas--although unlike the movie, he did NOT enter the prison disguised as a prisoner. The horror of it all is what makes this very compelling viewing--and a film you should NOT let your kids watch. Rather vivid depictions of beatings, rapes and other violence against the prisoners (mostly by other prisoners) make this tough viewing--and the viewer should think about this first. Now this is NOT a criticism--the harsh language and violence is necessary to adequately show the horrible conditions existing in this prison in the 1960s. In many ways, it's much more horrific than "The Shawshank Redemption"--and unlike this Stephen King story, "Brubaker" is true. Corruption on a massive scale and the state's unwillingness to reform make this a very compelling movie.

Excellent acting by the ensemble cast make this an amazing movie to watch. And, not surprisingly, Robert Redford is his usual exceptional self. The only negative is that despite a great story and acting, the direction and editing are poor. An egregious example is late in the story. One of the trustees escape during a rain storm and is being tracked down by Brubaker and some other trustees. However, as they track him down there is dust everywhere and no trace of rain---talk about sloppy! Still, this is a minor technical quibble and the film is one of the best prison films I have seen.

I saw this movie with my wife, who wasn't thrilled that I brought this back from the video store. She's the type that pulls movies off of the "new release" shelf without fail. But as we got into this movie, she changed her mind.

Robert Redford plays Henry Brubaker, a prison warden who is recruited to reform brutal Wakefield Penitentiary, in Arkansas. The conditions are terrible, with men sleeping in puddles of mop water and being regularly beaten, tortured, and murdered. Brubaker gets a handle on the conditions there by sneaking into the jail disguised as an incoming criminal.

When he finally begins his tenure as warden, he meets strong resistance from the community, which is used to the prison being the source of local income and slave labor. The scenes in which Brubaker has to deal with the morally corrupt prison board are powerful and captivating. A good view.

Cinematography is questionable, and the editing TV movie-like. Acting is superb, and the local color interesting. I give the film a B-.

Things to watch for: white trash sister, Morgan Freeman's debut, rape scene.