Matewan

It takes more than guns to kill a man.

• Rated 7.4 out of 10
• Movie
• 1987
• 2h 12m
• Drama
• History

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.

Director

John Sayles

Starring

Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham