Harlan County War

Big management grinds poor workers with boot heel followed by rebellion and unionization. There's nothing new in Showtime's telling of this old story about hollow dwelling coal miners in Harlan County, KY. Nonetheless, Hunter bails out this well made but potentially monotonous film with her powerful performance as a spunky and dauntless coal miner's wife. A must see for Hunter fans.

While I was excited to watch the film I was disappointed that there was no option for subtitles. I had my hearing aid adjusted as well as the audio on my TV but missed 90% of the dialogue particularly the higher pitched, nasal twangs.

From a background of West Virginia I really wanted to enjoy this film. I know the history of the miners' strikes and Appalachian hardships...while the producers were sure to add Spanish language they ignored subtitling for hearing impaired viewers. Since this site values length rather than quality I suppose I need to relate how my grandfather was born in Wheeling VA before it even became West Virginia . Thank yoiu.

Pretty ironic that a supposedly pro-union Kentucky story was filmed in Canada, isn't it? Meanwhile LA filming crews go jobless.

The original documentary is a better, more compelling film - because it's "real" and you're in the trenches with the camera, however I still found Holly Hunter's performance to be remarkable. This suffers from the usual TV drama problems; from the very first scene they're begging for the viewer's pity, and we learn that Hunter's character is a strong woman, but we never learn how the fight is really won. The power struggles with her husband are hinted at, but never fleshed out and developed or resolved. If you're a fan of Hunter's you might enjoy her performance, but otherwise skip it. Put the effort into finding the original documentary, "Harlan County, USA." Or else watch the news.

I have spent my entire life in Harlan County, Kentucky. Growing up, working and now raising my own children here. To those of you who believe this movie has anything real to teach you about my home, I can tell you it has only a minimal similarity to reality. It is based on a nearly thirty-year-old Oscar-winning film, Harlan County USA, which for a documentary about the 1970s-era strike at Eastover Mining Company was one of the most complete works of fiction ever created. This admittedly fictionalized version of that original fiction doesn't look like Harlan County, sound like Harlan County, or even remotely evoke Harlan County, which at least the documentary did, even though most of its details were way out of whack. Although stereotypes abound, I can recommend this movie as a competent piece of fiction and a satisfying, though somewhat overwrought, drama. In short, typical made-for-TV fodder. But don't for one minute think it resembles real people or real life in Harlan County, Kentucky in any useful way. That story doesn't exist yet in the minds of producers anywhere. Appalachia and the entertainment industry have yet to understand one another.

I take issue with those who have said this is not an accurate depiction of Appalachian coal country, though I will admit it's probably more representative of parts of West Virginia than Kentucky. I spent 14 years in WV, my wife is from WV and her father grew up in a coal camp.

My wife's grandmother didn't have running water or indoor plumbing until the '70's (heck members of *my* family didn't have indoor plumbing until the late '60's and I grew up in PA!).

I have known many people in WV who sound very much like Holly Hunter in this film, and even dated a woman from the coalfields of southern WV with a similar accent.

The geography also reminds me of WV (though admittedly it wasn't filmed there).

All-in-all an excellent film, and it's hard to believe it represents events as recent as the '70's! We've (until recently) come a long way and we need films like this to remind us how bad things recently were and could soon be again (or worse re: last year's Utah mine disaster).