“What we’ve got here is… failure to communicate.”
The first time I stumbled across that quote was during my brief stint as a government employee. My boss had a Cool Hand Luke poster in his office, with the quote taking up most of the one-sheet. We were both part of the Communications division, so communicating with each other and the public through our messaging was part of our daily job. I’m not going to dive too deep into how ironic it was for one of the heads of the government’s Communications division to have that quote prominently displayed in his office, but I at least got a kick out of it. “Failure to communicate” — who knew that three simple words strung together in that order could pack such a punch? I love that Luke uses these words as ammunition at the end of the movie, firing them back to the one who first uttered them. Failure to communicate… yeah, I’d say there’s a lot of that going around these days.
What Cool Hand Luke Means to Us
The year was 1991 and Guns N’ Roses had just released their double album follow up to the 18x platinum Appetite for Destruction, Use Your Illusion I & II. The second disc had a track on it called Civil War that started out with the famous quote, “What we’ve got here…is failure to communicate.” I didn’t know where it came from, but in the liner notes I found out. So I asked my dad about it and he immediately made sure to rent it the next time we went to Blockbuster. I honestly thought I’d be too young to enjoy the film, but it was amazing how engrossed I was in the film on first watch. Everything in that movie just clicks. It’s just so damn good. Paul Newman is just charismatic as hell and makes you root for him all throughout the film. He’s the epitome of the anti-hero and you want to watch what he does next to stick it to the man. I was a rebellious teen and Luke was my new idol. Until I got to the end. Then I just felt sad.
Either way, it’s a great film and I kinda want to rewatch it one of these days.
–K. Alvarez
I grew up hearing my dad quote this movie. “What we’ve got here…is failure to communicate.” That bit was particularly useful in my teens. But I never saw the movie until last year. Not for any particular reason. In all honestly, I’ve always felt kind of ambivalent to movies that came out before 1970. Which is weird, because so much of the TV I watched as a kid came out in the 60s. At any rate, I finally watched Cool Hand Luke last July, and I was bowled over by the performances, the script, direction, cinematography, the ending–basically everything. And, honestly, I’m glad I waited. I think I needed to be a bit more mature as a film fan to appreciate everything this movie has going for it.
–Billy Dhalgren
Luke & Dragline
Cool Hand Luke may be set on a prison farm filled with uniquely named prisoners, but there are only two that are worth talking about: Paul Newman‘s “Cool Hand Luke” and George Kennedy‘s “Dragline.” When the audience first meets Luke, he’s drunk as a skunk and cutting off the heads of parking meters (which somehow lands him a two-year sentence?!). When the cops finally stop him, all Luke can get out are a few drunken rambles (might I say that what Luke had here was a “failure to communicate”). Even when he’s beaten, Luke can be seen flashing that killer smile. He never loses his faith (and more on that later), no matter how many times he’s caught and beaten.
Now Dragline knows his way around the prison. It’s implied he’s been there for a while (much longer than two years at least). He’s the leader of the prisoners and he doesn’t like Luke’s defiance. However, after a boxing match between the pair and an impressive bluff during poker by Luke later on, Dragline begins to warm to our effortlessly cool Luke.
I knew going in that Kennedy won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (and Newman was nominated for Best Actor), but at the beginning, I wasn’t entirely convinced that Kennedy was worthy of such an accolade. Boy was I wrong. Kennedy slowly wins you over as Dragline to the point where I could just watch a movie devoted entirely to him. Newman may be the star of Cool Hand Luke, but in my opinion, this is a two-hander. Hell, Kennedy could have been nominated for Best Actor alongside Newman and I wouldn’t have batted an eye.
A Nice Round Number
This is the only scene from Cool Hand Luke I had seen before a proper viewing of this movie. It was on the television at my grandparents’ maybe a decade (or more) ago, and I’m pretty sure we flipped channels whenever the next commercial break hit. I always assumed this was a nothing scene, merely there to show that Luke could eat 50 hardboiled eggs. However, there’s far more to it than that. The first half of Cool Hand Luke is a bunch of seemingly unrelated scenes that show how life is on this prison farm. However, they build upon one another, showing not only how Dragline and Luke became friends, but also how and why the prisoners begin to idolize our title character.
Luke rallying together to finish that road-paving job in less than a day is impressive, but man, eating 50 hardboiled eggs is something else. An impossible feat, yet accomplished (though not without struggle) just in the nick of time. This is when Luke fully wins over the other prisoners and becomes a godlike figure to them.
Imagery & Legacy
Subtlety isn’t in Cool Hand Luke‘s lexicon and I couldn’t be happier. Throughout the movie, Luke is presented as a stand-in for Jesus Christ, right down to being positioned on the table after the hardboiled egg scene similar to how Jesus is depicted in his crucifixion. There are multiple scenes where songs with the words “Jesus” are sung or Luke and Dragline discuss God. The very last shot of the movie shows the prisoners working at an intersection resembling a cross.
However, religious symbolism isn’t the only notewhile imagery used in the movie. Rewinding to the beginning of the movie, every time Luke cuts through a parking meter, the word “Violation” pops up on the meter. Violation = Crime. The traffic lights at the end of the movie are also used to inform the audience of Luke’s passing. The Captain is taking Luke to the prison infirmary instead of the local hospital, which will ensure that Luke does not survive the trip. As the car drives through the intersection, the lights change from green to red, signaling the end of Luke’s life.
As I said, it’s not subtle, yet it’s beautiful to look at. There are no movies made like this anymore, especially ones that go on to become a major box-office success like Cool Hand Luke. The cinematography, the editing, the way the camera lingers for perhaps a second longer than it should… we just don’t see that anymore. (I blame our deteriorating attention spans.) Cool Hand Luke is a film that never needs to be remade. Everything that needed to be said was said in this film. It’s a timeless story with a couple of great performances that leave you itching to watch it again. There’s also a great scene where a young woman teases the prisoners working in the ditch with a soapy car wash performance. …damn, this movie is just so good. If I haven’t failed to communicate why Cool Hand Luke is an essential watch, hopefully, you’ll be checking it out (or revisiting it) soon. I mean, what else are you going to do? Cut off the heads of parking meters?
Are you a fan of Cool Hand Luke? Do you have a fun fact, piece of trivia, or analysis about the film? Please share it in the comments!
