short takes (2)

* Robert Redford is not the best actor in the world, but he has become a force for good in the movies -- wherever he pops up, it seems something thoughtful and well-meaning is going on. Brubaker is a muckraking picture about a brutal prison and the warden who arrives there (disguised as a prisoner, at first) determined to reform the joint. the evils and excesses of the prison are depicted in gratuitous detail by director Stuart Rosenburg, and the plot lacks logic. But its cry for a humane penal system is cogent, and its heart remains generous even when its art falls flat.