Doppio inferno

It's 1955. Korean War veteran Gary Oldman has a violent breakdown and is incarcerated in a mental health prison.

It's a compelling movie, and it's powered by some fine performances, including Oldman, Pamela Reed as his sister, Frances MacDormand is his wife, Dennis Hopper as a fellow patient, and Ned Beatty as the head of the institution. For those of you used to seeing Beatty in comic or bizarre roles, this movie may be a revelation. He's smart, smug, and utterly despicable.

Were those the totality of the movie, it would be a fine one. However, the film makers have made an error common to this sort of crusading movie. They have stretched it out too long, letting the dull oppression of Oldman's long captivity seep into the audience, relieved only occasionally by something actually happening, like Miss Reed storming into the place. The intent of this pace is doubtless to let the audience understand the situation from the inmates' perspective. I found that it just makes the movie long and dull, and the ending abrupt. It's a common mistake, confusing sheer size for importance, and sloth for thoughtfulness. The result is a movie worth watching, but badly in need of a lot of trimming.

In 1955, Korean War veteran Emmett Foley had a breakdown and shot up his neighbourhood, apparently in the hopes that the police would kill him and his wife would get insurance money. Instead, the police captured him and he ended up being committed to a mental institution with deplorable conditions where the inmates were routinely mistreated. I realize that this is supposedly based on a true story (I always wonder how accurate a movie is when it's "based" on a true story. How many liberties are taken in the telling?) and yet, this somehow seemed stale to me. It was predictable; it lacked power. Mental institutions of that day were horrible places. 1948's "The Snake Pit" (although set a bit earlier) packs a better punch than this, quite frankly, if you want an account of what conditions were like - even though it wasn't "based on a true story."

Gary Oldman's performance as Emmett was a good one. He was clearly the highlight of the movie. There are a lot of other familiar faces in this, but it's Oldman's movie. I appreciated his take on Emmett - who was really quite clear-headed in most respects. Once he's incarcerated, Emmett becomes an advocate for the prisoners being abused, writing letters to their families to tell them what's happening, and, with the help of his sister (played by Pamela Reed) getting state officials involved in the case. That's where the movie really let me down. It just fizzled out. The Governor learns about the situation and establishes a committee that Emmett testifies in front of - and then it's over. Just the captions telling us about some reforms that were made to the system. Surely it wasn't that easy? One piece of testimony in front of a committee and the problem is solved? It was just too easy. I was left thinking that there should have been more - not wanting more in a positive sense, but thinking that there should have been more as in "that's it?" Oldman gets points for a good performance. The movie itself disappoints.

I have not yet begun to understand how this movie was so ignored. Besides having a beautiful "conquering evils" story, we have here, a masterpiece of acting. Dennis Hopper does NOT give - as Leonard Maltin says - a "glorified cameo" - but brings a superb supporting performance to the film. But it is Gary Oldman who soars above the realm of "acting", who is STARTLING in his performance. This genius of an actor should've received awards, accolades, and acclaim for one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen on screen.

If you are a true movie-lover, please take the time to view this brilliantly acted story. Perhaps we can all then get together to get Mr. Oldman his due for a KILLER performance. He certainly deserves it.

An exceptional piece of acting, on the part of Gary Oldman (gee; what else is new?) and Dennis Hopper, who ALWAYS comes through with fine performances.

However, Gary Oldman simply transcends acting like no other actor in the world. He is magnificent in this role of a desperate, but good and sincere man.

The movie might not be for the squeamish - but it IS for people who enjoy stories of true heroism - portrayed by a genius like Mr. Oldman.

I would LOVE it if critics would re-discover this motion picture for its greatness in plot, and its acting.

Overlooking Gary Oldman's performance in this film is the biggest crime since "Oliver" won the Best Picture Oscar over "2001".....

Will they never learn?

Seriously, why has no one heard of this? Why hadn't I? This was on sale, I was attracted by the talent and that was it. The title is the name of a dreadful mental hospital, and this is based on the true story of a Korean war vet who was sent there and who could not allow it to go on like that. In 90 minutes, this covers a lot of the unforgivable treatment(a more fitting word would be abuse) that the patients undergone back then, on account of the ignorance, the black and white view and the leaders not paying enough attention to what was going on(when the cat's away...). This is engaging from start to finish. The pace is good, if it does at times move excessively swiftly. This has excellent and flawless acting, especially as far as the leads go. Oldman and Hopper are amazing. The characters are well-written, credible and nicely developed. This has a marvelous plot, and it never stops being interesting. Not the only film about the subject, and not the best(if you can watch just one, and it's this or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... yeah, the latter), but most definitely worth your time. There is plenty of disturbing content, a bit of violence, relatively frequent moderate to strong language in this(and the movie can be disgusting). The DVD comes with a theatrical trailer. I recommend this to everyone mature enough for the themes. 7/10