Why Cool Hand Luke Is The Best Film To Start With To Get Into Paul Newman's Filmography

When it comes to my favorite actor of all time, though, it’s undoubtedly Paul Newman. I know I’ve called Robert Pattinson my favorite actor, but that’s more so when it comes to modern movies. And, if I were to pick one movie that I would introduce somebody to if they’ve never seen a Paul Newman movie before, I’d pick 1967’s Cool Hand Luke.

Sure, I COULD pick one of Scorsese’s best ‘80s movies, The Color of Money, since that’s the movie Newman finally won the Academy Award for. However, I still think Cool Hand Luke is the best entry point into Newman’s career. Here’s why.

Paul Newman with a good-natured grin in Cool Hand Luke — (Image credit: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts)

Paul Newman Has Never Been Cooler Than He Was In Cool Hand Luke

I mean, it’s right there in the title. In this prison drama, we’re introduced to a drunken Luke cutting off the heads of parking meters because…well, because why not? Luke is a World War II vet, but he feels aimless in civilian life. At the same time, he’s also vaguely anti-establishment and doesn’t care for rules. You have to remember, even though the movie takes place in the ‘50s, it came out in the ‘60s, right in the middle of the then-ongoing Vietnam War.

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Unlike Rebel Without a Cause, which has a streak of seeking a better establishment, Cool Hand Luke has a cooler, more snarky outlook on things. Luke, you see, is not searching for a cause, because there’s no reason to. Instead, it’s better to just live life on your own terms, which Paul Newman displays with aplomb. When he gets sentenced to a chain gang, he doesn’t see “the error of his ways,” or “straighten up and fly right.” Luke would find that corny. Instead, he makes the best of his situation, gaming the prison system and going from being a nuisance to the other men in his chain gang to being “a natural born world-shaker.”

I don’t think any other actor could pull this off quite so well. Yes, Newman was also cool in movies like The Sting, Hud, and The Hustler, but was he ever THIS cool? I don’t think so. But, that’s not all…

Paul Newman being held back in Cool Hand Luke

(Image credit: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts)

Cool Hand Luke Is Also The Perfect Period In-Between When Newman Was Not Playing Young Characters, But Also Not Playing “Old” Characters, Either

This might just be because I didn’t grow up watching Paul Newman flicks, but I really view Newman’s career in two halves: “Young” Paul Newman and “Old” Paul Newman. “Young” Paul Newman, like in films such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Somebody Up There Likes Me, and Hud represent a youthful, charismatic, and often heartthrob version of the actor. Whereas films like The Sting, The Verdict, and one of the best westerns ever, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, see Newman as a more mature (and silver-haired!) character actor.

Cool Hand Luke is that perfect period in-between, where Newman wasn’t young, per se, but he also wasn’t quite playing the mentor type either, yet. If I could compare it to anything, it would be Jake Johnson’s Spider-Man in the Spider-Verse movies if he hadn’t met Miles. In other words, he’s tired, yes, and he’s certainly seen some things, but he’s also still active, and still has that puckish, childlike energy to him.

This is my favorite version of Paul Newman (Besides the one on my salad dressing). However, there’s one other reason why I’d have somebody start with Cool Hand Luke.