On C List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
Chattahoochee (1989)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
4/20
4/20:
Chattahoochee is a strange prison movie that's somewhat alike to
Brubaker from the inside out with attention on institutional mental health
care in the state of Florida.
I can't tell whether it's a badly directed or badly edited film; there's something wrong either way. That's a shame
because Gary Oldman was on the verge of giving the performance of his career. Instead, it's been taken away by
shoddy technical aspects such as too many close-ups, poor storyline flow, and awkward transitions.
However, the story is true which is what happened to Chris Calhoun, a Korean War vet who suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and attempted suicide so his wife could collect insurance money. Actually,
he was hoping the cops would kill him to make the ploy look better on paper.
After being sent to the Florida State Hospital Chattahoochee, Calhoun was physically and sexually abused by the
staff, and he witnessed many hellish conditions that were beyond the meaning of reasonable care and treatment.
What he went through was actually a lot worse than shown in the film. Evidenced by Calhoun's letters to
Martin Waldron of the Tampa Tribune with the help of his sister, the Florida state government finally
enacted reforms in the mental health system.
The above is the best part of the picture, but the rest has been done in by incompetent filmmaking. After
seeing Frances McDormand, I started to realize she had made a career out of playing the same character over and
over which is so damn annoying. Dennis Hopper is merely a throwaway big-name actor in this mess. By the way,
James Ponti wrote an article about Chris Calhoun which was published on May 27, 1990, in the
Orlando Sentinel, making for a highly recommended read.
All in all, Chattahoochee is worth watching for two reasons: Gary Oldman and the story of what happened.