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Chattahoochee

Play trailer Poster for Chattahoochee R 1989 1h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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9% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In this fact-based film, Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) returns from Korea a hero, but when he cannot find gainful employment outside of the service, he decides the best way to provide for his wife, Mae (Frances McDormand), is to act crazy enough to get shot by the police, thereby providing her with insurance money. Instead, he's captured and placed in the Chattahoochee prison for the mentally ill, where, with fellow inmate Walker Benson (Dennis Hopper), he begins to fight for better conditions.
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Chattahoochee

Critics Reviews

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Sheila Johnston Independent (UK) 12/14/2024
The film is hard to lock into, however, partly because it's shot in a low-key drama-documentary style, but mainly because its muffled storyline bears the marks of severe re-editing. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 05/24/2003
2.5/4
When a story sags or a character seems unlikely, the excuse of the "true story" always is the same: This really happened! Yes, but we are not at the movies because it really happened. Go to Full Review
Richard Freedman Newark Star-Ledger Jan 6
2/4
Watching it can seem as tedious a way to make time pass as actually spending a few years in the institution it both criticizes and secretly celebrates. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Mar 11
C
This period piece drama was emotionally flat, despite the gifted actor Gary Oldman in the lead role. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/30/2022
The really unforgivable thing about Chattahoochee is that after violently torturing the spectator, they skimp on the catharsis. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 10/05/2021
2/4
...a well-intentioned misfire that's rarely, if ever, as enthralling as Jackson has obviously intended. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Melissa M Mar 20 I just stumbled upon this movie. How is this movie so poorly rated? I'm shocked. I just feel such a good story and such good performances were terribly over looked. Wow. See more Blu B 08/13/2024 It's trying to be a combo of One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest and some Shawshank Redemption type stuff and can just never figure out how to make it work cohesively. The music is ok but very forgettable. Everything else is just subpar. Oldman is trying to give it his all here to make up for the holes but it just comes across as over the top and unneeded here. Were just thrown into the madness and never given backstory on who he is and what caused his condition outside of a ten second opening scenes suggesting PTSD from war. That would be ok if it's explored while incarcerated but it never is. Instead it feels like bizarre stuff just happens with no real flow or rhyme to them and again it just feels very bizarre. Than it becomes Hoppers film for a good chunk before finally settling on him overcoming everything for the greater good which feels so out of place given everything else that came before. I will say camerawork, lighting, framing, and production value is good but again the scenes themselves half the time make no sense or don't flow well because of how bizarre this gets with just showing crazy stuff tons of times. The only semblance of a story is him trying to fight to escape using the legal system when it becomes a rebel vs the system type of deal. but it come sooo late in the story it's so out of place and just becomes a bit boring after all the crazy stuff ironically. Hopper's story could've been cut entirely. Skip This. There really isn't anything here unless your a super die hard Olman fan. Hopper isn't bad though either and probably the best thing here. See more Steve D 02/26/2023 The script isn't good enough for what Oldman is giving it. See more Shioka O 11/21/2022 Based on a true story, good acting by Oldman, Hopper and McDormand. But, unfortunately, I find watching this film is uncomfortable because of the editing and the score. With such a material, it could be far better. Midnight Express is more compelling. See more 06/05/2022 A true story with an amazing cast. I'm utterly dumbstruck that this movie didn't do far better. From Helmdale film corporation, which also made Platoon, The Last Emperor, and Salvador. Frances McDormand is really hot in this film, btw. Dennis Hopper is great in this, also. Gary Oldman said Sid & Nancy was an over-rated movie & this was an underrated. If you love classic movies, then you must see this. See more 06/15/2020 Very good movie. Frances McDermand was beyond awesome, I 'd never seen her as a young, hot actress, my god. She was a favorite of mine from her middle-aged movies, like Fargo, I had no idea she was such a facile, intelligent presence onscreen when she was young. Ok, so it's an unfortunate name for the movie, when I was growing up in miami fl in the 50s/60s, my mother would say, "If you don't behave you'll end up in Chattahoochee." We all knew it was a bad place for crazy people and people who just didn't behave right. It was no secret, really, if a 5 year old kid in Miami knew that. In Florida you didn't grow up afraid of ending up in hell, you were afraid of ending up in Chattahoochee. Movie captures it. These reviewer reviews ...they are so off the wall...even Ebert's. "when a story sags or character seems unlikely..." He must have seen a different flick, or he just didn't care about an old expose. Oldman and particularly McDermand handled he exposition of Emmett and Mae's couple dynamics masterfully, and the writing was excellent, too. Very good flick, bad title. See more Read all reviews
Chattahoochee

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this fact-based film, Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) returns from Korea a hero, but when he cannot find gainful employment outside of the service, he decides the best way to provide for his wife, Mae (Frances McDormand), is to act crazy enough to get shot by the police, thereby providing her with insurance money. Instead, he's captured and placed in the Chattahoochee prison for the mentally ill, where, with fellow inmate Walker Benson (Dennis Hopper), he begins to fight for better conditions.
Director
Mick Jackson
Producer
Faye Schwab
Production Co
Hemdale
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$17.5K
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Surround
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