Les héros sont en cage

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.

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.

Chattahoochee is directed by Mick Jackson and written by James Cresson (as James Hicks). It stars Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Francis McDormand, Pamela Reed, Ned Beatty and M. Emmet Walsh. Music is by John E. Keane and cinematography by Andrew Dunn.

In 1955 Florida, Korean veteran Emmett Foley (Oldman) has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison. Here he witnesses patients being abused and used.

One landed in the cuckoo's nest.

Intense incarceration based tale, Chattahoochee suffers due to a cliché riddled screenplay that can't hit the upper echelons of pics dealing with the "mismanagement" of mental health patients. Foley's attempts to expose the nightmarish conditions at the facility he is imprisoned in, keeps the viewer interested, as does his burgeoning friendship with Benson (Hopper) and the crashing of his relationship with the girl he loves outside (McDormand).

Ultimately, it's well performed by the principals, but staid in writing and direction to the point you end up hankering for the "greats" of the genre made previously. 6/10

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?