Matewan

Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.

Cast

Chris Cooper

Chris Cooper

as Joe Kenehan

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

as 'Few Clothes' Johnson

Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell

as Elma Radnor

Will Oldham

Will Oldham

as Danny Radnor

David Strathairn

David Strathairn

as Police Chief Sid Hatfield

Ken Jenkins

Ken Jenkins

as Sephus Purcell

Kevin Tighe

Kevin Tighe

as Bill Hickey

Gordon Clapp

Gordon Clapp

as Tom Griggs

Bob Gunton

Bob Gunton

as C.E. Lively

Jace Alexander

Jace Alexander

as Hilllard Elkins

Reviews

CinemaSerf

With the dust barely settled after the Great War and the United States in the grip of an economic and social depression, a group of Virginian miners have had enough of being paid a pittance and being subjected to third-rate safety practices. Moreover, what they are paid is usually swallowed up in co...

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