Lone Star (1996)

I won't try to describe how wonderful this film is, because other reviewers have done a better job. Just reading the reviews of others similarly moved--CHANGED dare I say (I do daresay, because I am given to hyperbole) by this film causes a big lump of feeling to grow in my throat, and I don't really have much more to say except to lend my voice to pumping up how important it is to watch this "little" film. This "little" movie is so perfectly, astonishingly human, it encapsulates so much pain, feeling, experience, I am a big ol' wordsmith but this is the kind of thing that makes me stop typing, because it is so beautifully painfully real that after watching I find my words dried up. Because even if it is a specific story about a specific time and specific people, it manages to encapsulate human lives with a painfully--AND I MEAN PAINFULLY--beautiful universal story. I can't think of another film that I get choked up even by reading about, and I am a cold hard cookie. Sayles is gifted. But if you are turned off by adoration for a director, skip that sentence, please, because this tiny long beautiful story WILL affect you. And make you think and feel and all sorts of dumb stuff maybe you thought you were too hard for, especially in an "old" and even slightly dated film. There is the kind of familiar beauty in this that you won't find anywhere.

And of course, forgive me for saying, but Chris Cooper is brilliant in this, he is the actor you have seen in a million things but didn't realize it because he dissolves himself completely in EVERY role, because he is the ultimate in admirable acting: you don't even recognize how many things you have seen him in, most likely, because he is ZERO PERCENT about recognition and 100% about the craft. Look him up and be blown away at the things he has been a-feckin-mazing in and you didn't even KNOW it was the same actor, that's how far he immerses himself in his roles!

Fmovies: John Sayles is not only a great director, but he is also a truly great writer, and "Lone Star" is simply one of the best-written films of all time. Out of the 30+ scripts I studied in script analysis classes, this was, other than "Manhattan", the most interesting, involving, evocative screenplay I read during that period, and probably the one with the most depth. I saw the film a few months after reading its screenplay, and found that it far surpassed the mental image I had in my head of the film.

"Lone Star" could have been a standard mystery. It could have been a 'modern Western', or it could have been a superficial race drama, but it is none of those things (at least not exclusively), it is a fascinating, subtle look at race relations in Texas, as well as at basic human nature. Unlike the contrived writing one would find in an 'Oscar bait' drama film, Sayles' interwoven plots don't feel forced simply because he sets them up so well. The depth and scale of the writing here is remarkable, especially because the film, with all its subplots and characters, never feels cluttered or unnatural. This is a character study of the highest order, and there's no point in discussing the actual events of the film further because this is a film that is best seen (or, indeed, read) with fresh eyes, and I'd hate to spoil that for readers who haven't seen the film.

It's a sad fact of life that directors like Sayles, who see films as stories that must be told, and direct them well, but without intrusive and obvious stylistic quirks, are less noticed than directors who practically beg for attention. That's not to say that this film is not well-made, because anyone with any sort of experience with technical details of cinema could tell you that it is a very well-shot and very well-edited film with excellent use of music. That said, this film is ultimately about the writing, and the acting, and both are absolutely superb, the standout from the latter category being Chris Cooper, who gives what is probably one of the nineties' best performances in this film.

10/10

I thoroughly enjoyed Lone Star. The story was well-constructed and presented, and kept me interested and guessing throughout. The acting is understated and exceptional. Throughout the movie, I was reminded of Orson Welles' masterpiece, "Touch of Evil", also about a border town.

Lone Star fmovies. In "Lone Star", a skull is found in an isolated part of a Texas border county which begins an investigation by the local Sheriff who must unlock a closet full of skeletons to solve the mystery. Critically acclaimed and a high scoring flick on this website, "Lone Star" is a film to be reckoned with. It features solid performances without the usual blockbuster star power, an engaging story, a real feel, and masterful editing which allows for a seamless presentation of the numerous flashbacks required to tell the story. You'll find little emoting or little reason to emote in this matter-of-fact contemporary film which ends with a kicker. Worth a look for just about anyone mature enough for the subject matter.

"Lone Star" was John Sayles' first look at a state, followed by "Limbo" (Alaska), "Sunshine State" (Florida) and "Silver City" (Colorado). This one focuses on a border town in Texas, and the influences of and conflicts between the white, black and Hispanic populations there. It starts when they discover the remains of racist Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), murdered under mysterious circumstances many years earlier; Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) leads the investigation. In the process of everything, we get to see - among other things - the battle over education in the Lone Star State: the school only wants to teach the white people's side of history, but Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Pena) wants to teach it from the Mexican point of view. As it is, this town carries many secrets, many of which are about to blow open. This was, in my opinion, John Sayles' greatest movie ever. It is not to be missed.

An entrancing yarn that takes place in a small, quiet Texas border town where the memories of two former lawmen, the crooked Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson) and the legendary Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey) are slowly resurrected when the remains of Wade are found on an deserted Army firing range by Deeds' son, Sam (Chris Cooper), who is the current town sheriff. Throughout the movie, Sam visits some of the locals and asks each one if they knew what happened to Wade and if Buddy had a role in the murder. Writer-director-editor John Sayles serves up an unpredictable gem here with a great cast that includes Joe Morton, Elisabeth Pena, Frances McDormand, etc., and to me, it seems like nearly all the characters here make sense right up to the end.