Matewan

Matewan (1987)

  • 100% of critics liked it
    (18 reviews)

  • 90% of users liked it
    (3,656 ratings)

Independent filmmaker John Sayles creates one of his more artistic works with this period feature about a volatile 1920s labor dispute in the town of Matewan, West Virginia. Matewan is a coal town where the local miners' lives are controlled by the powerful Stone Mountain Coal Company. The company… More

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PG-13, 2 hr. 10 min.
Directed By
John Sayles
Written By
John Sayles
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Aug 28, 1987 Limited
On DVD
Nov 23, 1999
Cinecom Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    John Sayles' period piece is an ambitious drama of union making and union breaking in the 1920a

  • Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

    Cinematographer Haskel Wexler contributes greatly to the look and feel of a truly special cinematic achievement.

  • Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

    For all of the binary simplicity of the film's moral structure, the question of violence, its utility or even necessity, is the great ambiguity at the film's center.

  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

    An old-fashioned movie that will make the hearts of all idealists truly sing.

  • Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly

    Superb drama by John Sayles; Chris Cooper is brilliant.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Ken S


    An amazingly authentic film with great performances, photography and production design. Sayles work here is stellar, can't wait to read the book.

  • Tim S


    Caught this on late night cable. Fantastic film on all levels. It looks great and has some amazing performances. It is everything that I love about John Sayles. It seems like every movie he makes is a social studies project (not that it's always a good thing) and you always learn… More

  • Anthony V


    A modern classic.

  • Moe E


    Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones and Mary McDonnell each do a good job in this John Sayles piece on the growth of the labor union into the West Virginia coal mines of the 1920's. But, I may have set my expectations for the film a bit too high. Maybe it was meant as a warm-up for… More

Cast

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