Brubaker (1980)

Excellent adaptation.

An absolute waste of money

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

If you think the corruption and brutality in this movie is just fantasy, I have some news for you...The corruption and brutal treatment of prisoners at state prisons was too often very real, until they were uncovered and dealt with. And it was not limited to the deep southern states, either. In fact, of the ten most infamous prisons in the US, five of them are in northern and western states...that doesn't mean the south gets a free ride though. Most of the southern prisons were notorious for the chain gangs, and some were identified for the corruption as well. The difference in the movie Brubaker, is that the corruption displayed is totally open and everybody knows about it...in reality, corruption was usually very localized, and many officials simply had no idea it was so rampant.Brubaker is an eye opener of a movie, and deserves every one of the stars...

Based on the real life story of Tom Murton, "Brubaker" tells of a new prison warden, Henry Brubaker (Robert Redford), who enters Wakefield Penitentiary in the South under the guise of being a fellow prisoner. He does this to get a first hand account of conditions for the convicts, because what he's really about is reform. He will earn himself both allies and enemies in his bull-headed quest for changes, eventually getting wind of the fact that bodies have been buried on prison property for many years.It's interesting to note from the leading IMDb review that the film is largely faithful to the true story, with some standard embellishments and inventions for a movie audience. It's pretty straightforward, with a variety of characters that establish rooting interest. Screenwriter W.D. Richter (who was Oscar nominated) keeps some things ambiguous, and keeps one interested in the elements that remain unexplained in the film (like why the men were killed in the first place). The ultimate goal is to expose the skeletons in the closet of this corrupt system, and while Brubaker may come off as a stubborn sort, there's no denying that he's a man with the courage of his convictions.Redford is ideally cast as the protagonist, and he's supported by a simply phenomenal bunch of actors: Yaphet Kotto (who has some great moments), Jane Alexander, Murray Hamilton, a charismatic young David Keith, Morgan Freeman (in what is really a minor sort of role), Matt Clark, Tim McIntire, and Richard Ward. This, unfortunately, was the last feature film appearance for the raspy voiced Ward; the film is dedicated to him. And get a load of the scores of familiar faces in smaller roles. This viewer will refrain from reeling off a list of names and let you discover them for yourselves.Nice music by Lalo Schifrin and vivid location shooting help to make this solid entertainment, that does manage to end in a reasonably realistic way (again, though, this is indicative of a respectable basic adherence to the truth). This viewer could have done without that "slow clap" nonsense, but at least it wouldn't have been as much of a cliché back in 1980 than it would be now.Eight out of 10.

The new warden (Robert Redford) of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.I don't think this is one of Redford's better-known films, and the true story it is based off of is not well known either. But it is a darn fine film, and if for no other reason, people should see it for the young Morgan Freeman. At this point in his career, he didn't even have the full "voice of God" yet.What I find most interesting about this story is not the treatment of the prisoners, but how those on the outside abused the system. In real life, did they really purchase all sorts of equipment that was never sent? That is major corruption. And the "slave labor" seems sketchy, even more questionable than the 13th Amendment's rules allow.

Firstly I have to say that this is one of the best prison movie I have ever watched. Robert Redford is a very very good choice for the role of brubaker. He made a good job in this movie. No need to say something about the story because it already nominated to an academy award, it was really really good. As an addition; seeing middle-aged morgan freeman as a mad prisoner was a good experience. I also liked David keith acting and his character in the movie.Secondly I liked about the movie is giving importance to the details like brubaker's prison management. He shows to every manager; how should be a manager like? He is interested in everything about the prisoners and their problems of course. His attitude against politicians was also interesting to watch.Lastly this was a good movie also a very good prison movie. It is some harsh but it suits this story. If you like prison movies you should watch this one. A good experience to watch and analyze a degenerated system.