Les héros sont en cage

To name it Chattahoochee was quite relevant, as opposed to 'Foley' which would have 'Sounded' just as befitting; in not isolating the terror to a specific case. Extremely poignant performance by Pamela Reed and terrifically acted by an unmatched Gary Oldman. The selection of Hopper as the accommodating surviving wiz, in atrocious places like Chattahoochee, was proven to be a superb choice by Hopper convincing realism. BRAVO to Jackson too and may be three!

Chattahoochee is a fine film that explores heroism as well as the trials of personal relationships in times of hardship. The acting is superb, especially Oldman's performance of Emmet Folley as the unstable Korean war Veteran who ends up in an abusive and unsanitary mental hospital. Dennis Hopper also does a fine job and special recognition to Frances McDormand who plays Emmet's wife. She isn't the most likeable character but she proves herself again to be a fine character actor. I appreciated the movies realism and there was no doubt about the horror and darkness associated with the institution which Oldman's character was fighting against. Watching the entire movie is worth it just to see the scene where Emmet barricades himself behind the bunk beds and begins rallying against the guards. I wasn't completely satisfied with the sound track but the music was used in the all the right places. A great film both for it's historical significance and for it's study of relationships--and also of course for it's well built up exciting moments.

I'm not sure why anyone would really want to watch a movie like this. This film is generally getting good reviews, but these seem to be from Gary Oldman fans who would probably rave about him in anything. It's a grim account of life in a mental prison. The prisoners are kept in squalor (surprise, surprise), mistreated by brutal guards (ditto) until one man exposes the goings-on with the inevitable Hollywood denouement.

The film starts with an unnecessary voice-over from Oldman's character, but this technique is soon dropped leaving us disorientated - why does he go berserk? - perhaps we needed that voice over after all... A major weakness of the plot is that the hero is someone who at the beginning of the film runs amok in his neighborhood with a gun. Say what...? this is the hero...? Well, he has a tough job to endear himself to us after that, and he doesn't make it. This undermines the basic purport of the film, namely to make a hero out of Oldman's character. To further alienate us, Oldman is made to sport the most execrable beard in movie history for the whole second half of the film.

Presumably we are meant to get some satisfaction from the ending, but several decades after the event, does anyone really give a dang about it? We know conditions in these institutions, and everywhere else, were bad in the past. As this is a true story, the ending is also a foregone conclusion and is brought about very abruptly and clumsily in the last minute of the film. A movie of these credentials should not have you thinking at the end "oh, is that it then?".

There is not a single laugh in the movie (apart from Oldman's beard), which is a pity as it is crying out for some moments of levity to counterbalance the grimness. Oldman's character is relentlessly and often unpleasantly intense (surely the director's fault). The directing is sometimes messy (chaotic unfocused foregrounds, etc). On the plus side, if you find yourself unwittingly in the midst of this film, you can take some comfort from Dennis Hopper (playing a rare kindly role) and Frances McDormand, who is good as Oldman's wife.

The director and star may be British, but make no mistake, this is very much a Hollywood picture. There's the usual morality story and the usual pandering to American's obsession with their own (ever-imperfect) legal system in the form of a fight for justice (though thankfully, we don't pay a visit to any real courtrooms along the way).

On the whole, just a bad idea.

This under-rated movie is an excellent portrayal of the heroic. True love and friendship fight despair and tragedy. The military betrayed its men, the doctors betrayed its sick, and a marriage betrayed its partners. One man is compelled to try and do something about it. The acting is superb, drawing one into the film and leaving one to reflect on one's own life and the society we live in.

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.