Review of: LONE STAR (1996)
Review written: 1/25/98 Copyright 1998 Afterburner Email me at: aburner@erols.com
Rating (out of 10): 8
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I had trouble watching LONE STAR (1996), but it was through no fault of the movie. Rather, I discovered that I've been conditioned by Hollywood to expect a more-or-less direct line between the introduction of the conflict and the resolution of that conflict.
But LONE STAR doesn't take a direct line from beginning to end. It meanders. John Sayles doesn't want to just tell you the story of a skeleton dug up in the desert; he wants to give you a slice of life of the town in which the story takes place. And he does so masterfully.
The primary plot involves Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) trying to unravel the mystery of a skeleton found buried in the desert near Frontera, Texas. The skeleton is that of Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), a brutal and corrupt Sheriff of the same county who disappeared over 30 years ago. The disappearance happened the same night Wade was threatened by a new deputy, Buddy Deeds (Matthew MacConaughey), who refused to partake of the Sheriff's corrupt activities. Buddy then went on to become a wildly popular Sheriff in his own right, and Sam lives under the long shadow cast by his father.
Intermingled with the main story arc are several subplots. A young Mexican worker attempts to get his relatives illegally across the border; a by-the-book Colonel of a nearby Army base attempts to come to grips with the fact that his estranged father lives in Frontera; a shooting at a nearby bar leads the Colonel to increase the frequency of random drug tests, which may put a young private at risk. These stories and more are weaved skillfully into the fabric of the movie, and many are never resolved. In the hands of a lesser writer/director, these segments would be distracting. Sayles, however, manages to give them purpose despite their irrelevancy to the central plot, and we find ourselves engrossed in the lives of this small Texas border town.
Solid acting is seen throughout the movie. Kristofferson exudes malignancy as the corrupt Wade. Frances McDormand makes a brief but wonderful appearance as Sam Deeds' "tightly-wound," football-crazed ex-wife. And Cooper is perfectly understated as the not-quite-sure-of-himself Sheriff, trying to escape his father's legendary status.
To be fair, there are some flaws in the movie. For instance, as the payoff was building to its climax, I found myself thinking "If Buddy Deeds *did* kill Charlie Wade, I'm going to be disappointed because it was so obviously him. And if he didn't, I'm going to be disappointed because it's so obviously him that it *couldn't* be him." A more subtle approach could have heightened the mystery (and thus the enjoyment of the movie) that much more.
Also, the cutaways between the present and the past are done seamlessly. Instead of a fade, or other traditional flashback sequences, the camera simply pans across the scene. When the pan starts, the action is in one time frame, and when it ends, the action is in another. While this was a novelty at first, I confess to being distracted by it later in the movie.
Finally, throughout the movie, Sam Deeds' desire to prove that his father was a murderer seems completely out of proportion to any indications of Buddy Deeds' personality. Buddy Deeds seems to be a genuinely honest and caring man, well deserving of his reputation. Aside from the resentment at having a legend for a father, we're given no motivation for Sam's exceptionally hostile attitude towards Buddy, and I found myself increasingly confused by this hostility as the movie progressed.
But these are ultimately minor points. The movie is well worth watching, and I highly recommend it. Especially to those folks like myself who need to wean ourselves away from more conventional Hollywood fare.
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