Review: Brubaker

Robert Redford is the title character Henry Brubaker, who initially poses as a prisoner before revealing himself the new reform-minded administrator of a corrupt and out-of-control prison in America’s South. The well-meaning Brubaker has a tough task ahead of him, butting heads with prison board chairman Murray Hamilton, uneasily earning the trust of the prisoners and trustees including the hardened and cynical trustee Dickie (Yaphet Kotto), who hasn’t yet made his mind up about the new head honcho. Jane Alexander plays Brubaker’s political ally, who wishes Brubaker weren’t so pig-headed, outspoken, and inflexible. Tim McIntire plays the brutal bully Huey, Matt Clark is the warden’s clerk, Joe Spinell and Everett McGill are prison thugs, Richard Ward is an elderly prisoner, Morgan Freeman an extremely volatile one, David Keith and Val Avery also play prisoners. John McMartin is solid as a pragmatic liberal senator whom Brubaker thinks is useless, M. Emmet Walsh and his stupid hat plays corrupt contractor Woodward, and Linda Haynes plays Huey’s girl.

 

Lumpy but highly watchable prison reform message movie from 1980 directed by Stuart Rosenberg (“Voyage of the Damned”, “The Amityville Horror”), but very much a Robert Redford movie. That is, it’s a social message/cause movie first and foremost and a prison picture second, despite coming from the director of “Cool Hand Luke”. The funny thing is that Redford’s probably the weak link in this supposedly true story. Redford’s casting is a little too heavy-handed for my liking. At first he’s too obviously masquerading as a prisoner, so you’re not surprised at the reveal 20 minutes into the picture. When you find out who he really is, you can figure out where the film is really going. It’s not a fatal flaw or anything, but Redford’s a bit boring to be honest. A lot of actors could make his rather introspective, pensive character interesting – James Coburn and Dustin Hoffman spring to mind. Redford probably should’ve just produced the film if he believed in the cause it was championing. Otherwise, you’ve got a pretty solid film here, and one heck of a great supporting cast.

 

The powerful and intense Yaphet Kotto is the big standout in the cast, he’s a really strong actor on the rare occasions he has been afforded the opportunity to show his talent. Morgan Freeman’s debut cameo is electrifying, and there’s also rock-solid work by the enduring Matt Clark, a perfectly loathsome Joe Spinell, Everett McGill (whose mean mug is perfectly cast), veteran character actor Val Avery, an amusingly slimy M. Emmet Walsh, an affecting Richard Ward, a well (type)cast Murray Hamilton, and probably the best work of David Keith’s career. Keith seemed set to break out in the early 80s, but it didn’t quite happen for him. He’s good here, as he was in “Firestarter” for that matter. If you wanted to punch Hamilton in “Jaws” you’ll want to stick a grenade down his trousers in this one. Jane Alexander is an extremely underrated actress who seems to have been forgotten about over the years despite a pretty impressive resumé. She’s as good as usual here, but the director and screenwriter W.D. Richter (who was involved in two of my favourites, 1978’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and John Carpenter’s brilliant “Big Trouble in Little China”) don’t put her to her best use here. Her character isn’t in the film often enough, presumably so they can give Redford more to do. I can’t say I was especially impressed with the late Tim McIntire as the antagonistic Huey. Surely they could’ve hired a more compelling actor than musician-actor McIntire (who died at age 41 in 1986), who is a bit of a poor man’s Joe Don Baker. Look out for an early performance by Noble Willingham as a piece of shit prison doctor, as well as brief bits for familiar faces Wilford Brimley and “Buffy” villain Harry Groener (as another doctor). “Coffy” co-star Linda Haynes even turns up in her final role before she went on to become a legal assistant. For those interested, you get to see her boobs here briefly.

 

It offers up a pretty convincing view of a prison gone completely to seed. Hell, it’s the only film I can think of that features a climactic slow-clap that isn’t terribly comforting. When Albert Salmi figures into things late in the film, you aren’t feeling warm and fuzzy and hopeful. That said, I never 100% bought the prison trustee system, with all those cons being armed. It’s apparently true to the real-life story, but I didn’t believe it to be during the film. Otherwise, the worldview on show here is fascinating and fairly believable, especially early on.

 

Sometimes brutal, sometimes unconvincing prison reform drama full of excellent character actors and some strong moments. Redford is just OK in the lead, despite the material clearly being up his alley as a human being. However, the supporting cast is mostly outstanding and the film is worth a look. It’s just that it could’ve and should’ve been even better and you end up a bit pissed off that it’s not.

 

Rating: B-