Throwback Thursday Movie Review: Brubaker

It's Throw Back Thursday Movie Review day again... Last time we did a movie most people had seen... Planes, Trains and Automobiles... This time we're doing a movie probably nobody has seen... Brubaker (1980).

Synopsis (Spoiler alert): When I tell you the concept of the movie, it’s not hard to spoil the beginning of it for you… Henry Brubaker is the new warden at a state prison in Arkansas… He spends the first few days (weeks?) as a prisoner incognito to help identify the corruption and crime (charging for medical attention, rampant sexual assault, electrical torture [Tucker telephone], extortion, flogging, embezzling and reselling of food and supplies) going on in the prison system… He then reveals himself and enlists some of the prisoners to help him enact his reforms… But that rubs those who used to benefit from the corruption, including prison board members, local townfolk and trusties (prisoners who doubled as guards because the prison system didn’t have salaried guards), the wrong way.

The meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-ow of the movie: 95 percent of the cast is dudes… But Jane Alexander was meowable back in the day.

Jane Alexander... 1980s Meeeee-ow.

Why to watch?
1. It might be the best prison-themed movie with Morgan Freeman in it… “Better than ’Shawshank Redemption’?”, you say… It might be… Fairly close… When things are close, I give the benefit of the doubt to the true story.

Before 'Shawshank Redemption' Morgan Freeman was tearing up prisons in Alabama.

2. It might be the best prison-themed movie directed by Stuart Rosenberg… “Better than ‘Cool Hand Luke’?”, you say… It’s fairly close… I’m going to call this one a wash.

3. It might be the best film to team up Robert Redford and Wilford Brimley… “Better than ‘The Natural’?”, you say… Actually, no… It’s not… I’m lying… It has Wilford Brimley in it though… And that’s always a plus… Especially pre-diabeetus Wilford.



4. It’s a fairly close representation of a true story… It’s a fictionalized version of a book by Tom Murton, a prison warden who uncovered scandals in the Arkansas prison system in the late 1960s… The beginning part of the movie where Brubaker posed as a prisoner did not happen in real life to the best that I can tell from an hour of Google research… I’m guessing it was done as a dramatic device to more effectively portray the shitty conditions in the prisons rather than just tell you it was happening.

5. It’s Nicolas Cage’s first film! Normally you will find “Nicolas Cage was in it” under my ‘Why to not watch’ column, but apparently it’s a brief appearance… I watched the movie twice and couldn’t pick him out… Which is why it’s a good reason to watch… Maybe you’ll find him… And can tell me where he is.

6. It is credited by some for the birth of the modern day Slow Clap… I actually found out about this movie when I started my soon-to-be-releases blog exposé on the Slow Clap... You can see parts of the scene mixed into this trailer starting at about 1:01 and on!



7. Robert Redford is in it… Despite giving the impression most of the time that he might be an effing commie, Redford is a pretty good actor… Hard to believe he never won an Oscar… But I knew the Oscars were tainted when ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ won an Oscar for best film over ‘Do The Right Thing’… While this isn’t the hardest acting performance (Not hard to act outraged about blatant corruption and crime), he does a good job with it.

8. Does anybody play an untrustworthy shady-ass politician better than Murray Hamilton? It's like the Jaws' Mayor Vaughn all over again.

I've tried to find Mayor Vaughn's sport coat on eBay.

Why to not watch.
1. It’s not going to ‘Wow’ you and it can move slow at times and it has some predictableness… While I recommend the movie, it’s with some tepidness… After all, I recommended “There Will Be Blood” to people and they hated me for years.

2. At times it has a made-for-television feel to it, but that may just be because it was made in 1980… One of my favorite movies “All The Right Moves” has the same feel… So I wouldn’t flush it down the shitter for that reason alone… Just think it could have been so much better if it was done 10 years later... If it was done in 1994 (the same year as Shawshank Redemption) it may have been a superior film.

Best line of the movie: Lillian Gray: You can't reform the system if you're not in it.
Role that Robert Loggia should’ve been given: I think Robert Loggia could have pulled off Robert Redford’s role as Brubaker, but he might’ve been more suited to replace David Keith as the “lifer” prisoner who helps Brubaker institute some of his reforms.
Degrees to Kevin Bacon: James Keane is a 1… He was in Murder in the First (1995) with Kevin Bacon… Hard to believe that Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, Murray Hamilton, David Keith, Nicolas Cage are all 2’s
Will you laugh: No.. It’s not a dramatic comedy.
Will you cry: No… You might have a shocked face once in a while, but no reason to cry… You might slow clap, though.
Can you watch it with your grandmother: Yes.
Can you watch it with your children: Meh… Depends on how old… I wouldn’t watch with anyone under 16 if it were me, but that’s because I’m a responsible adult… Although they don’t show it, you know dudes are being raped in a few scenes because of various noises.
Is it worse than "Grown Ups"?: No… But the people responsible for “Grown Ups” need to spend a few weeks at Brubaker’s prison.
Is it better than "Furry Vengeance"?: No… I’m taking Brendan Fraser over Robert Redford this one time.

On a scale from 1 to 32: I give it a 26.37... It’s a solid movie and everybody should watch it at least once… Not sure if I’d go out of the way for a second viewing, but I’d watch it a second time if it was on… But it never is.