Laurens Moore Movies
Since Chattahoochee is a story based on true events, it may seem absurd to suggest that the actual events of Chattahoochee are pirated from other true-life tales like Gideon's Trumpet. But it certainly seems as if true stories are just as derivative as any fictional narrative coming out of Hollywood. The Chattahoochee saga details the Emmett Foley (Gary Oldman) story. The film takes place in 1955, when Foley, a Korean war veteran depressed and shattered by continual unemployment, snaps and shoots up his neighborhood, hoping that the police will come and shoot him down like a crazed dog so that his wife Mae (Frances McDormand) can collect on the insurance money. Instead of being gunned down by the law enforcement officers, he is sent to Chattahoochee, a notorious prison for the mentally ill which makes The Snake Pit look like a vacation in Bermuda. The gruesome conditions in the jail send Foley into listlessness. But then his anger gets the better of him and, encouraged by a friend, Walker Benson (Dennis Hopper), he begins sending letters to the authorities protesting the sub-human conditions in the mental facility. Due to his efforts, a state commission is formed to investigate conditions in Chattahoochee, and Foley has a chance to tell the world of the horrible conditions. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, (more)
- 1987
- R
The lonely wife of a struggling tobacco farmer succumbs to temptation and sleeps with a transient harvester in this drama set in Depression-ravaged North Carolina. The drifter offers her more excitement than the bored young mother has felt in years and it is no surprise that she and he begin plotting to murder her hard-working husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lori Singer, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1984
- R
Surly conservationist Rutger Hauer makes it his life's mission to protect the eggs of the endangered bald eagle. Collector Donald Pleasence wants to appropriate a few of these eggs without invoke Hauer's terrible wrath. Pleasence hires mountain climber Powers Boothe to pose as a magazine photographer, the better to win Hauer's confidence and expedite the egg-poaching. But Boothe is soon converted to Hauer's cause, and with the help of storekeeper Kathleen Turner the two men thwart Pleasence's anti-eco deviltry. While the acting and plotline of A Breed Apart are unremarkable at best, the film is redeemed by the breathtaking location photography of Geoffrey Stephenson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe, (more)
- 1984
- R
Firestarter is based on a bone-chilling novel by Steven King. Drew Barrymore plays Charlie McGee the young daughter of Andrew (David Keith) and Vicky (Heather Locklear) McGee, who years earlier had been guinea pigs for a top secret experiment. As a result, Charlie has acquired the unenviable ability to start fires simply by thinking about fires. Charlie is pursued over hill and dale by The Shop, a secret government organization bent upon using her skills for nefarious purposes. The special effects are undeniably startling, even when the script and dialogue are straight out of the funny papers (it's hard to keep a straight face during the New York Times final shot!) The high-priced cast--including George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher--seems to be having a grand ole time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Keith, George C. Scott, (more)
