A prisoner (Robert Redford) arrives at Wakefield State Penitentiary in Arkansas. He witnesses rampant abuse and corruption from the guards and prison officials. The prison is a dangerous overcrowded gulag. Eddie Caldwell (Everett McGill) is a cruel inmate given the powers of a guard. Larry Lee Bullen (David Keith) is a lifer trying to do right. Prisoner Walter (Morgan Freeman) suffering from solitary confinement takes Bullen hostage. The mysterious prisoner comes to the rescue revealing himself to be the new warden Henry Brubaker. He institutes reforms with the help of inmates Bullen and Dickie Coombes (Yaphet Kotto).
The scariest thing about this prison isn't the torture, the rape, or the corruption. It's that most of prison seems to be run by the inmates. The tower guards are prisoners. The clerks are prisoners. In fact, I can't tell who's not a prisoner. Brubaker is a bit too heroic. He's one of those impossible people and almost inhuman. It's trying to advocate something rather than be a compelling story. The prison is a gritty place. That's one of most compelling aspect of the movie.
The scariest thing about this prison isn't the torture, the rape, or the corruption. It's that most of prison seems to be run by the inmates. The tower guards are prisoners. The clerks are prisoners. In fact, I can't tell who's not a prisoner. Brubaker is a bit too heroic. He's one of those impossible people and almost inhuman. It's trying to advocate something rather than be a compelling story. The prison is a gritty place. That's one of most compelling aspect of the movie.