Following the lead of another British actor - Emily Lloyd in last year's "In Country" - Gary Oldman now takes on a Southern accent for "Chattahoochee."
And he does it just as well, playing a very convincing Southerner. But for some reason I found it very difficult to warm up to his character in this film, which is probably essential for it to work.As a result, "Chattahoochee" is a fairly ordinary movie look at the horrors of a mental asylum, a subject first tackled in the '40s by the still-compelling film "The Snake Pit."
Since then myriad movies have done variations on the theme, not the least being the exploration of an unfit Veteran's Hospital in the recent "Born on the Fourth of July."
But "Chattahoochee" seems to be little more than a string of shocking set-pieces strung together, each intended to be more horrifying than the last. That works up to a point, but after awhile is a bit numbing, especially when no real feeling for the lead character is built up.
Further, some of the supporting players seem to be performing as little more than hyper Southern stereotypes, which becomes more than a bit grating after awhile.
The film begins with a brief moment that has Oldman in Korea, then shifts to his breakdown a few years later as he begins shooting up the suburban Florida neighborhood where he lives with his wife and child. This sequence is prolonged and sufficiently horrifying. (Later the roots of his problems are superficially explained by his parents being religious fanatics, his father constantly belittling him and his wartime trauma, which lead to impotence and suicidal tendencies.)
But Oldman's problems are not really what the film is about, and once he is taken to the title sanitarium - because the prison is full - the film's real plot unfolds.
As Oldman observes the terrible conditions there and the inhuman treatment received by patients/prisoners, he gradually begins a private campaign to reveal them to higher authorities, keeping track of criminal actions in the margins of his Bible.
Besides Oldman, the cast features Dennis Hopper, in a very good turn as a longtime inmate - the only other inmate whose character is explored at all; and Pamela Reed, a standout as Oldman's sister, helping him make his accusations known. Frances McDormand is a bit overly hysterical as Oldman's weak wife, and M. Emmet Walsh and Ned Beatty are wasted in throwaway roles.
In the end you may simply feel you've seen it all before - and much better elsewhere.
"Chattahoochee" is rated R for violence, profanity, nudity, sex and drugs.