A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem.
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You could be forgiven for believing that Burt Reynolds can only play comedic characters and not capable of drama. Well, you would be wrong. He is very comfortable here in a serious drama about prison life in general - with emphasis placed upon the harsh reality of being a convict. "The Longest Yard" is definitely one of the better films from Burt Reynolds. The plot, dialogue, acting, direction and photography fit the bill. The supporting cast includes Eddie Albert and Ed Lauter as two great villains. There is some humour once in a while but the film is uncompromising regarding the harsh treatment to which the convicts are subjected. The football game section is undoubtedly the highlight of "The Longest Yard" but the film is well made on all fronts.
Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest stars of the '70s, but like a lot of '70s stars (Faye Dunaway, Michael Serrizan, Karen Black, etc.) other decades have not been so kind to him. Here he stars in one of his finest films, "The Longest Yard," made in 1974, directed by Robert Aldrich, and also starring Eddie Albert, Michael Conrad, Ed Lauter, James Hampton, and Bernadette Peters.Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a football player who goes to prison after he hits his ex-girlfriend, steals her car, and runs it into the river. He's a football player with a scandal in his past, when he was suspected of shaving points off of a game.The sadistic warden (Eddie Albert) wants him to organize a football team for the prisoners so that they can play the guards. The real agenda is that on the football field, the guards will be able to practically beat the prisoners senseless. With the help of Caretaker (James Hampton), Paul chooses a football team and starts training them. On the day of the big game, he gets an offer that he should refuse but might not be able to.This is a really fine film. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it's one of those movies where you wind up rooting for the bad guys. Reynolds' character learns self-esteem, pride in his work, and also a sense of camaraderie. The football game itself is very exciting."The Longest Yard" is a film that holds up well, and not the usual type of prison movie you'd see today. And Bernadette Peters' hairdo is a no-miss!
Overall, a brainless-but-lots of fun flick and very fast-moving one, typically sleazy (er, "gritty," as critics preferred to call them) movie of its decade.In the 1970s, who better than make a thug into a lovable, good guy we all want to root for than Burt Reynolds? Box-office-wise, Burt was the hottest thing going in the '70s and playing a lawbreaker seemed to be tailor-made for him, from "Smokey And The Bandit" on down the line.The shock in this movie was seeing nice-guy Eddie Albert play the mean warden, but he pulled it off convincingly. Most of the characters in this movie are over-the-top, but that was the idea.This movie manipulates all of us to root for the prisoners in the big football games against the prison guards. In essence, that's the story in this film: a big football game played between prison inmates and the guards. Along the way, Burt gives us his normal glib-but-entertaining wisecracks and personality and we get some wild characters to go with him, such as the very likable "Caretaker" (James Hampton).Burt is macho enough, as the quarterback here, for the guys to respect him, and still be a ladies' favorite. I can't say the same for Richard Kiel, but "Jaws" (as became later in a James Bond movie), was always fun to watch. Some real-life pro goons, like Green Bay's Ray Nitchke, join the cast for some gridiron realism.In the end, its a clichéd, but fun two hours of escapism.
Burt Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a reprehensible character discovering, in a prison, dignity and esteem You see him, at the beginning of the movieas a rising starbeating up a woman, stealing her car, drunken driving, insulting cops in a bar, resisting arrest He's seen so funny when he insulted the miniature cop who's about to arrest him, while the cop's partner is laughing openly Eddie Albert was very charming when he meets Paul Crewe at his arrival to Citrus State Prison Aldrich wanted to play Warden Hazen as the guy who had the veneer of normalcy, the veneer of being a good executive, the veneer of keeping it all together till it starts unraveling He really was just a despicable, oily, warden type In one game scene, we see him over and over again, getting up just with that same look of shock on his face Ed Lauter (Captain Knauer) is wonderful He runs the football team He is a bad guy and he represents everything that is wrong with that prison system and everything else He changes as a result And to see that is just so delightful He's got the classic Ed Lauter's scene at the end James Hampton plays Caretaker, the character who brings the team all together and pushes Burt's character ahead to win the game Ray Nitschke plays the toughest, meanest linebacker in football Richard Kiel, Bob Tessier, Charles Tyner, Michael Conrad, and Harry Caesar give the film a certain veracity, you almost thing you are in jail
