Since seeing Cool Hand Luke I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of a modern-day equivalent of Paul Newman. The film proves that sometimes all a story needs is someone at the center of it who is so compelling and so effortlessly interesting and cool that any weaknesses in the form of other characters or uninspired sequences quickly disappear out of mind and all you’re left with is the impression left on you by the star.
Like Benjamin Braddock, Luke is a rebel. Unlike Benjamin, he’s smooth, knows who he is, and what he wants, even if what he wants is relatively unattainable. The movie ultimately rests on the charisma of Newman, whose defiance is emblematic of a certain push at this point in the decade, but instead of the hostile rebelliousness of guys like James Dean and Marlon Brando, his is almost a gentle, pleasant determination. Others will act like complete jerks to them, and he’ll smile at them in amusement while not backing down an inch. It’s mesmerizing to watch, and very, very cool. The closest equivalent I can think of today is Newman’s incidental namesake, Paul Rudd. But more than anything that shows there can only be one Paul Newman.
Continue reading on the next page…
