Chattahoochee (1989)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Mick Jackson

Writer:

James Hicks (written by)

Release Date:

20 April 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

At the edge of insanity lies hope.

Plot:

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.

Plot Keywords:

Maximum Security | Florida | 1955 | Mental Hospital | Bureaucracy

Cast

Gary Oldman	...	Emmett Foley
Dennis Hopper	...	Walker Benson
Frances McDormand	...	Mae Foley
Pamela Reed	...	Earlene
Ned Beatty	...	Dr. Harwood
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Morris
William De Acutis	...	Missy
Lee Wilkof	...	Vernon
Matt Craven	...	Lonny
Gary Howard Klar	...	Clarence (as Gary Klar)
Timothy Scott	...	Harley
Richard Portnow	...	Dr. Debner
William Newman	...	Jonathan
Whitey Hughes	...	Mr. Johnson
Wilbur Fitzgerald	...	Duane

Runtime:

UK:97 min | Germany:94 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #29867)

Filming Locations:

Columbia, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Hemdale Film

Quotes:

[last lines, from off]
Emmett Foley: Well, I don't reckon I'm a hero. Sure don't feel like one. I just did what I could. One thing at a time. Step by step.

Harrowing yet, what's the word ... yeah, conventional

I first watched 'Chattahoochee' in the early years of the 1990s when it was first released on cable. It was an eye-opening experience. At the time I was just beginning high school. Some ten years later, when attempting to compile a list of films I have seen, I realized that I remembered nothing from the film other than loving it.

Upon my rewatching, I now see how my tastes in cinema have changed, as well as my maturity and understanding of United States history. Mick Jackson, the director of 'Chattahoochee,' just a year later would release one of my favorite comedies, 'L.A. Story.' Jackson, not well known even to film buffs, has gone on to direct a wide variety of films, including the enormously successful Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner vehicle 'The Bodyguard.' With 'Chattahoochee' Jackson has a juicy story with which to work. Based on true events, Gary Oldman plays a Korean War veteran who loses his mind after returning home to the United States. One day, for reasons the film never truly explains, he begins firing a pistol at his neighbors' dwellings, clotheslines, and even someone's wife.

He is sent to an insane asylum not meant to cure, as we understand institutions to do today, rather to house an assortment of criminals with a variety of mental illnesses, and others likely with none at all. The brutality inflicted upon these patients is inhumane and by all accounts undeserving.

Oldman's character does what he can to bring the violence out in the open, to start he writes letters to the relatives of the abused. What began with those letters ends, I suppose, with this film. And though this understanding lends it a tact truthfulness, the direction and writing are fearfully melodramatic.

Oldman's performance is beyond measure as is Frances McDormand, who plays his wife. The film, as a whole, seems very "made for TV-ish" and is the type of heavy-handed, clichéd work you might find on Lifetime if the violence wasn't so hard to censor. Mature, history minded adults will find a harrowing story in the background, but will be unable to identify with the puppets shown in the film. A more astutely directed film would allow the audience to enter the institution with the main character, instead of leaving them at arm's length emotionally. **.5 out of ****