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The Longest Yard

The Longest Yard

Comedy · Drama · Crime · 1974

A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem.

Movie details

The Longest Yard

“It's survival of the fiercest and funniest”

1974 Comedy · Drama · Crime 2h 1m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Longest Yard?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Blindspotting

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Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers, and when Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.

Animal Factory

Animal Factory

Crime · 2000

Suburbanite Ron is spoiled, young and not overly worried about the marijuana charges leveled against him. But, after being made out to be a drug dealer, he faces a five-year jail sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Physically frail and unaccustomed to his rough surroundings, Ron is primed to fall victim to sexual predators and bullying guards – that is, until he's befriended by Earl, a veteran inmate who finds meaning in protecting the vulnerable new kid.

The United States of Leland

The United States of Leland

Crime · 2003

A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Drama · 2019

A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

The Valachi Papers

The Valachi Papers

Crime · 1972

When Joe Valachi has a price put on his head by Don Vito Genovese, he must take desperate steps to protect himself while in prison. An unsuccessful attempt to slit his throat puts him over the edge to break the sacred code of silence.

Gridiron Gang

Gridiron Gang

Crime · 2006

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.

The Unforgivable

The Unforgivable

Drama · 2021

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

Caged

Caged

Crime · 1950

A single mistake puts a 19-year old girl behind bars, where she experiences the terrors and torments of women in prison.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption

Drama · 1994

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke

Drama · 1967

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Aldrich

Written by

Tracy Keenan Wynn · Albert S. Ruddy

Burt Reynolds

Burt Reynolds

Paul Crewe

Eddie Albert

Eddie Albert

Warden Hazen

Ed Lauter

Ed Lauter

Captain Knauer

Michael Conrad

Michael Conrad

Nate Scarboro

James Hampton

James Hampton

Caretaker

Harry Caesar

Harry Caesar

Granville

John Steadman

John Steadman

Pop

Court is in session

Put The Longest Yard on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.