Brubaker

You can't help but think Robert Redford was taking some serious notes while being directed by Stuart Rosenberg in this one.....you can see the influence in Redford's own directing style. Rosenberg gives us another prison drama and in this case another serious bummer, one where the politicians turn out to be even bigger crooks than the inmates. Very tight piece of work with the type of character establishing shots all but extinct in Hollywood these days, the ones with Brubaker trying to shoot the rat being one of my favorite. Hard to imagine this film only came out in 1980 as it seems like it's exisited forever and will no doubt, like so many reality based films, it will survive for many years to come.