Hollywood at its most achingly moralistic.

A fictionalised dramatisation of Tom Murton’s 1969 report exposing endemic corruption in the US penal system is certainly brutal in places but leans too heavily on deceptively cliche story beats. Stuart Rosenberg’s prior prison drama Cool Hand Luke casts an inescapable shadow over Brubaker. Cool Hand Luke not only has more charm and staying power, but says just as much about the corrupt and malicious penal system without patronising its audience. To then realise Redford’s efforts behind the camera in 1980 amounting to the extraordinary feat of Ordinary People makes Brubaker diminish even further. Your time would be better spent with these creator’s better work, but Brubaker is a solid drama for a rainy day.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

”I’m getting ready to be real angry.”

Wow, I liked this way more that I thought I would. That first act is about as gritty as it gets and Redford is Redford so of course he’s great, but I LOVED the supporting cast. Yaphet Kotto, Morgan Freeman, Murray Hamilton, David Keith, Matt Clark, and a great appearance by M. Emmet Walsh all make this film a fascinating watch from beginning to end.

”Hey Brubaker, I'm getting ready to tell you something….You were right.”

Cinematic Time Capsule - 1980 Ranked

things that are equally sexy to me: 

1. robert redford calmly explaining to a room full of white republican men how he’s going to reform the prison they’ve corrupted with their own greed.

2. robert redford putting an entire head of uncooked cauliflower in his mouth and pressing a can of cold beer to his forehead to alleviate the headache he got from having to deal with corrupt white republican men.

not gonna lie i actually wanted to watch the candidate (1972) but i couldn’t find it, so instead i found this aka another robert redford movie. and here he is, trying to change/improve the system and getting stressed out by a group of men who won’t like it to improve/change...... if it isn’t relatable

Viewed on Netflix

Brubaker is an excellent prison film.
Redford plays a warden who goes undercover to get a first hand look at the corruption of the prison he will oversee. I really enjoy prison dramas and Brubaker is excellent and has an wonderful cast throughout.
Along with Robert Redford are Yaphet Kotto, Keith David, Everett McGill, M. Emmet Walsh and Morgan Freeman who has a small but important role in the film.

"Brubaker" behandelt mit einigen dramaturgischen Freiheiten die wahre Geschichte um die Tucker Prison Farm, die Thomas Murton zwischen 1967 und 1969 aufdeckte: Gefangene mussten Zwangsarbeit leisten für Produkte, die unter Marktwert in den Supermarktregalen landeten, angeblich geflüchtete Gefangene wurden tatsächlich vom Gefängnispersonal ermordet und auf dem Gefängnisgebiet wurden Gräber mit über 200 von Staatsbediensteten ermordeten Menschen gefunden - die Politik, insbesondere vertreten von Gouverneur Winthrop Rockefeller reagierte typisch auf den Skandal und sorgte dafür, dass Murton nie wieder im Strafvollzug arbeiten konnte. Murton wird im Film von Robert Redford gespielt, der Rollenname wurde in Brubaker geändert. Unter der Regie Rosenbergs gelingen ihm und zahlreichen Nebendarstellern, darunter auch ein junger Morgan Freeman, beeindruckende Leistungen, mit denen sie den Zuschauer in das Grauen des von der US-Politik tolerierten mörderischen Strafvollzugsystems der Sechzigerjahre führen, wobei spätere Vorkommnisse in Guantanamo und Abu-Ghureib die Vermutung nahe legen, dass sich seitdem nicht viel verändert hat.

Einer der letzten Filme der 70er, auch wenn er von 1980 ist. Hat noch den Geruch von NEW HOLLYWOOD und stringent-anspruchsvoll auserzähltem Drama-Spannungskino. Mit einem Nebendarsteller-Cast, bei dem man vor Freude bekloppt wird : Morgan Freeman, Yaphet Kotto, Murray Hamilton, M. Emmett Walsh, Wilford Brimley, Everett McGill, Joe Spinell und und und. Wenn die heutzutage nur eine handvoll solcher Filme zustande bringen könnten, ich wäre hin und weg.

pretty engrossing if not particularly revelatory. mostly novel for depicting an attempt at reform that fails not because of simple graft or even institutionalized discrimination (though those are certainly factors) but because it's just damned unprofitable.

1. The type of movie that reminds me exactly why I'm a nerd and never break the law, this prison ain't no joke.

2. It had a real Dead Poets Society ending, a good 9 years before Dead Poets Society.

3. Robert Redford not only has perfect hair he also has perfect crying eyes.

4. I'm very embarrassed to say in a movie that focused on real horrors, I was most aghast, when Redford pulled a whole cauliflower out of the fridge, broke it in half and ate it as a meal. Bleh.

this is sort of like discount shawshank redemption. idk why i made that comparison, maybe because this is a decidedly worse prison movie.

I decided to watch this due to my obsession with completely reviewing Nic Cage’s filmography. Nic Cage has a small uncredited role as a prisoner, and I don’t remember seeing him. However, this has a very early Morgan Freeman appearance, and he was as good as you’d expect. Redford was similarly strong.

As for the story, it’s pretty good. A warden sneaks into the prison under the guise of a prisoner and eventually tries to reform it. It’s pretty good, nothing fantastic, but I liked that it’s based on a true story.

Honey, it’s a Brubaker™ night.
They frequently used a thunder sound effect to heighten the tension between characters, but they never used it how I would have: to announce the entrance of M. Emmet Walsh.
We’ve all been watching a lot of movies, so why not watch Brubaker? Who cares?

Loosely based on Tom Murton’s 1969 expose of the corruption that existed in the US penal system. Stuart Roenberg delivers a solid prison drama and Redford is tremendous as the maverick prison warden.

This is one of those films that gets under your skin, like only the most infuriating and incendiary subject matter can do so. So many aspects of the films true life accounts troubled me, but the film does a good job of finding empathy and nuance within the melange of characters who are all deeply flawed. One of Redords more reserved and calculated turns. Worth a watch for all prison movie fans like myself.

(DVD)

An excellent account of a confronting true story. A fantastic cast, led by Robert Redford, well paced and with an effectively gritty and grimy setting. Definitely worth a watch.

Hollywood at its most achingly moralistic.

A fictionalised dramatisation of Tom Murton’s 1969 report exposing endemic corruption in the US penal system is certainly brutal in places but leans too heavily on deceptively cliche story beats. Stuart Rosenberg’s prior prison drama Cool Hand Luke casts an inescapable shadow over Brubaker. Cool Hand Luke not only has more charm and staying power, but says just as much about the corrupt and malicious penal system without patronising its audience. To then realise Redford’s efforts behind the camera in 1980 amounting to the extraordinary feat of Ordinary People makes Brubaker diminish even further. Your time would be better spent with these creator’s better work, but Brubaker is a solid drama for a rainy day.

I’m not sure why I’d only recently heard about Brubaker (1980) while I’d been aware of Cool Hand Luke (1967) for a number of years and actually watched it for the first time a few weeks ago. Brubaker was a far superior film in terms of story, characters and the topics it tackled. My only regret is not having heard of this film sooner.

apparently nic cage was in this?

The dude who plays Mr. Robinson / the mayor of Amity Island continues his tour de force of asshole characters in this one.