To me, this movie is perfection.

The first must-see film of the year.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The film's based on an expose of actual occurrences at Arkansas' Cummins State Prison Farm, especially the secret convict burial ground found there.One thing for sure—this is not a date movie. Instead, it's a grim 2-hours redeemed by taking on a difficult topic, namely how some state prisons are run. Admittedly, the movie's lengthy, humorless, and undeviating in its narrative. But the 140-minutes is also richly detailed in its overall expose. Based on a true story, Redford plays a determined prison reformer who first impersonates an inmate in order to experience actual conditions at a prison farm. Then he assumes his official duties in casual dress, while continuing to mix with the convicts. Definitely, no romance here for movie star Redford.To say conditions at the penitentiary are corrupt understates them. The movie's quite good at showing how petty pay-offs decide who gets what among the inmates themselves, and then how the surrounding business community benefits from both inmate labor and the crops they produce. That's not to leave out state government and its slick go-betweens that tolerate the system since it does produce a profit.Determined to humanize brutal prison conditions, Redford takes a hands-on approach by daily eating and mingling with the convicts. Apparently, the higher-ups remain confident he'll be co-opted by the system at some point, just as previous reformers apparently were. However, they've underestimated his dedication, as even his politically liberal connection to the state governor, Lillian (Jane Alexander), finds out. Their low-key showdown is really the movie's most telling point. For it's the principled Redford's refusal to settle for a few changes that separates him from the more pragmatic Lillian. After all, only a few changes will leave the basically corrupt system in place. Redford understates his role in a generally emotionless way. And though he's in about every scene, he draws no attention to himself. Instead, as the pivotal convict Coombes, a commanding Yaphet Kotto gets the dramatic play. And in a touch of expert casting, the sly Murray Hamilton appears as a slippery politician who's used to smilingly fix things at the state level. The film's one false note occurs at the end,which is obviously staged. I can understand wanting to end on a hopeful note, but the uniform crowd response overdoes it. After all, wouldn't a few "realists" hang back in the interest of identifying with the new regime since that's where the future lies.Sad to say, I think the movie's also a reflection of too much of our current state of national affairs. On that national level, slick politicians maintain a system where the wealthy 1% rake off profits from a debt-ridden working class, kept in place by a growing government surveillance network. At the same time, our infrastructure crumbles like the prison roof in the movie. Of course, I'm not saying the country amounts to a prison, at least as long as the Constitution has some effect. But I am saying there are more parallels with Redford's movie than I'm comfortable with. Agree or not, the film is well worth pausing over.

Robert Redford stars in this film about a new prison warden attempting to weed out corruption in a decrepit prison farm. The twist early on is Brubaker's entry to the farm as a prisoner, so he can witness first-hand the situation he will be dealing with as warden. As a prisoner on the inside, he sees the brutal beatings of prisoners and witnesses their uncomfortable environment. One of the more interesting aspects of the plot is the use of prisoners as "overseers" of the other prisoners. Like the character of Dathan in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments", there are prisoners keeping other prisoners down, contributing to the penal deficiencies. These overseers take bribes, beat other prisoners and are generally malicious. This adds the twist to the plot - not only does Brubaker have to deal with the corrupt state officials running the prison system, he has to overcome the corrupt prisoners in charge of maintaining the farm. There is another complexity to this, because usually prisoner-on-prisoner brutality involves those on equal footing. Not here - the prisoners scramble for overseer appointments so they can dominate those they had just been with on equal ground. They learn their lessons well in the U.S. penal system. Almost every prison film features a scene or two dealing with "the hole," the solitary confinement cells. Brubaker is no different, although the two main scenes involving the isolation cells are pivotal. In the first, Brubaker is still posing as a prisoner, but he asserts his authority when an isolated prisoner (Morgan Freeman) loses his mind. The second scene takes place after Brubaker has taken over as warden, and he orders the solitarily-confined prisoners to be taken outside once a day and provided with sunglasses. The connection between these two scenes is very key in understanding Brubaker's motivations. He sees the effects of the penal system on Freeman's character, and when he takes over, Redford attempts to correct the ills of that particular penal problem. The symmetry was one of the better moments in the film, illustrating the process of improving the penal system. Redford's age is very apparent now, but in this 1980 film, he looks beleaguered. Is it the role, or the actor in the role? I enjoyed the stoic nature of his character, unwilling to bend or break when faced with the opposition presented by the corrupted state officials. The end of the film is sort of cheesy, with the inmates showing tribute to their fired warden as he rides out of sight. But overall, the film succeeds at showing two things - the mistreatment of prisoners (whether by fellow prisoners or "guards") and the corruption within the penal system. Redford shows a unique ability to respect many of his inmates, and this film is the only one focusing on the warden's perspective on prison. This different approach puts certain penal issues in a different light, although Redford's character still faces the same adversity as the inmates do--fighting a corrupt system attempting to keep them down. In one sense, Redford is an inmate, a "prisoner" of the penal system corruption, fighting for the rights of the prisoner. Last note - the movie is a little too long. That knocks it down a bit.

My favorite kind of dramas have been those regarding prisons and their attempt to reform inmates. In fact, my top 2 films all time are 1994's Shawshank Redemption and 1999's The Green Mile. This film, Brubaker may not reach that scale, but it's still a great movie that tackles the subject of prison corruption. The film is well-acted especially by Robert Redford. Stuart Rosenberg's film is about a man named Brubaker who is a new warden at this Arkansas prison. He disguises himself as a prisoner to witness the corruption firsthand. When he reveals himself, he enacts many changes which angers the local community because they benefited from the corruption. After Brubaker threatens to reveal secrets about old murders, Brubaker's life may be threatened. Robert Redford delivers another fine performance, a more subtle performance this time around. But as the man who is performing the right moral moves and receiving sneers and jeers from everyone around him, he does a great job withholding to the pressure. There were also good performances from the likes of Yaphet Kotto and Jane Alexander as well as an early great performance from Morgan Freeman.Overall, Brubaker is a very good film. It is not the best prison drama ever made, but it still is a highly entertaining one. The one thing I suggest would have worked was more scenes involving Brubaker's disguise. I felt the beginning of the film moved too fast. A good drama with some thriller aspects. The film shows that prison corruption is more real than it seems. I rate this film 9/10.

I first saw this movie in 1980 when it came out. Growing up this was one of my very favorite movies. In the beginning when Brubaker sneaks into the prison as an inmate - this is the stuff that kids dream of. Nothing could be more exciting. Slowed down a bit in the middle but picks up towards the end.I thought it was a great movie then & after watching it again in 2012 still think it is awesome. Redford is great. Keith is great. Morgan Freeman is great. Well acted by all.I don't comment on movies much because all I have to really say is - I like it.