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Do you remember the 80s TV action heroes of The A-Team? Can you buy blue-eyed beauteous matinee idol Robert Redford as a battle-hardened Vietnam vet? Do you like prison movies? If you can answer yes to one or more of the above questions, then hunker down over that popcorn and prepare for two hours of enjoyably simple-minded boy's own adventure, because "The Last Castle" will float your boat.
Of course, if you like your thrillers with an edge, an aura of danger, or an iota of unpredictability, then you're equally likely to be disappointed. But, then, what are you doing watching a Robert Redford movie? The most image-sensitive star of his age was never likely to appear in an update of "Scum". Instead, he's chosen a comfortable blend of "Dead Poets Society" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai", which casts him as an irresistibly charismatic court-martialled general, facing off against a blinkered, cruel system.
The system comes in the robust form of James Gandolfini's wonderfully vindictive martinet, the commandant of the military clink Redford ends up in after disobeying an order and getting eight of his men killed. Why he did this is never made clear, but that's not the point. The point is that once in chokey, Redford will galvanise the demoralised and abused prisoners so they rise up against their oppressor. Thus making convicted killers go all gooey-eyed and make the audience chortle happily at the silliness of it all.
So, not a serious prison flick, but director Lurie finds fresh ways to frame familiar situations, and pulls it off with enough tongue-in-cheek wit to ensure that right up to the only-in-the-movies climax of DIY-weaponry and cheesy wrap-yourself-in-the-flag histrionics, "The Last Castle" remains good fun.
