December 19, 2001 -- "The Last Castle" (U.K. title is "The Tower") is a fairly standard prison drama, along the lines of the 1965 prison drama "The Hill," but with a slight twist: it is also about a war game.

Robert Redford stars as General Eugene Irwin a highly-regarded general who is court-martialed and sentenced to eight years in a military prison. The prison is run by Colonel Winter (played by James Gandolfini of "The Mexican"), a tough, sadistic man who respects Irwin. He quickly becomes Irwin's enemy, however, when Winter finds that Irwin does not respect him because of his lack of combat experience. It becomes a battle of wills. Irwin just wants to serve his time and go home, but he can't back down from the challenge offered by Winter. He also sees the needless suffering of the prisoners under Winter's command.

Irwin is an excellent strategist and a born leader of men. He decides to use his skills against Winter, who rules by fear alone. Well, I've said enough, you can see where this one is going right away. While this is a pretty standard prison drama plot structure ("Stalag 17," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," etc.), it eventually changes to a war game plot. At times, the war game aspect of the film is almost playful, even though some people get killed in this game. It seems as though it should have been more playful, or more serious. It ends up being a compromise.

Redford and Gandolfini are both effective in this film. Redford plays a man who is battle-tested, relaxed and confident, while Gandolfini plays a man who is wound way too tight for his own good or anyone else's. Also good are Steve Burton, who plays Captain Peretz, the real power behind Colonel Winter, Clifton Collins Jr., who plays Corp. Ramon Aguilar, the son of a bricklayer, Delroy Lindo of "The Cider House Rules," who plays Gen. James Wheeler, Brian Goodman, an actor who really was in prison once, plays prisoner Beaupre. One of the military prisoners, Doc Lee, is played by an actor whose name is a homonym, Frank Military. Paul Calderon, who plays Sgt. Maj. Dellwo is a standout among the supporting cast.

The most impressive thing about the film is the location shots at the historic Tennessee State Penetentiary. The old prison was closed in 1992 after being in service nearly 100 years. It is architecturally stunning and it really does resemble a castle. It is a perfect setting for the film. Production values are high in the film, with a very classy production design by Kirk M. Petruccelli ("The Patriot"), and a solid musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Alas, the script, by David Scarpa and Graham Yost, does not live up to the rest of the talent. It is not a realistic story at all and it is predictable and derivative. The characters are one-dimensional and they lack the kind of depth needed to draw the viewer into the story. This film rates a C.

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