Themes: Haunted By the Past, Fathers and Sons, Small-Town Life
Main Cast: Miriam Colon, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Joe Morton, Ron Canada, Clifton James, Kris Kristofferson
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 134 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Reminiscent of a fine novel in depth and complexity, writer-director John Sayles' acclaimed drama uses the investigation of a 25-year-old murder as the framework for a detailed exploration of life in a Texas border town. The nominal center of the film is Sheriff Sam Deeds (the superb, subtle Chris Cooper), the chief law officer of the town of Frontera. The low-key Sam is also the son of the late Buddy Deeds (played in flashbacks by Matthew McConaughey), who also served as town sheriff and still maintains a legendary status for ousting the vicious, corrupt Charlie Wade (a memorably vicious Kris Kristofferson). The discovery of Wade's decades-old skeleton, however, calls this legend into question, and forces Sam to begin an investigation. During this search for the truth, Sam must come to terms with his own troubled emotions about his father and his still-lingering romantic feelings for Pilar (Elizabeth Peña), a Hispanic woman that Buddy had prevented him from seeing as a young man. Lone Star's scope encompasses not only this story but the whole town, addressing Pilar's difficulties as a schoolteacher, the conflict between incoming immigrants and border patrol officers, and the troubles faced by the African-American commander of the local military base. Sayles expertly moves between past and present, weaving his stories together to illustrate, as in his earlier City of Hope (1991), how the seemingly disparate parts of a community are in fact intimately interconnected. Raising issues of race, politics, and identity, Lone Star nevertheless focuses most of its attention on its complex, believable characters, well-performed by an excellent ensemble cast. One of the most financially successful of Sayles' low-key movies, Lone Star received glowing notices and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
A searing, thoughtful portrait of life in a Texas border town, Lone Star is one part history lesson, one part sociological study, one part murder mystery. A high point in the career of writer/director John Sayles, the film is a graceful balancing act: unshowy and low-key, it weaves together disparate stories into one compelling narrative, making even its minor characters into individuals of dimension and substance. Using the murder angle as a pretext rather than a plot, Sayles makes it a window through which subjects as diverse as border politics, racial prejudice, dark family secrets, and even a repressed, decades-old romance can be viewed. Lone Star was also Sayles' most successful film; unlike much of his previous work, it was embraced by a mainstream audience, and a number of critics hailed it as the best film of the year. Sayles' method of storytelling, which had occasionally gotten him into trouble for its novel-like complexity and density, served him well in this instance. Lone Star is the cinematic equivalent of a compulsive page-turner, a thoroughly engaging story filled with characters that are plentiful yet not shabbily rendered, and intrigue that is thought-provoking rather than sensational. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Richard Coca; Miriam Colon - Mercedes Cruz; Frances McDormand - Bunny; Stephen Mendillo; Jeff Monahan - Young Hollis; Tay Strathairn - Young Sam; Gordon Tootoosis; Beatrice Winde - Minnie Bledsoe; Gabriel Casseus - Young Otis; Matthew McConaughey - Buddy Deeds; Stephen J. Lang; Chandra Wilson - Pvt. Johnson
Credit
Kyler Black - Art Director, Jan Foster - Associate Producer, Avy Kaufman - Casting, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, John Powditch - First Assistant Director, John Sayles - Director, John Sayles - Editor, John Sloss - Executive Producer, Mason K. Daring - Composer (Music Score), Mason K. Daring - Songwriter, Dan Bishop - Production Designer, Stuart Dryburgh - Cinematographer, Paul Miller - Producer, Maggie Renzi - Producer, Dianna Freas - Set Designer, Clive Winter - Sound/Sound Designer, John Sayles - Screenwriter
In this ensemble piece, director Sayles tells the story of several residents of a small Texas border town.
In the film's opening scene, two off-duty soldiers exploring the desert shooting range near their Army base find a partially buried human skull. When one jokes that it may have something to do with the party of the Spanish explorer Coronado who came through the area centuries ago, the other points out a Masonic ring lying next to the skull and asks if Coronado was in the Masons.
Sam Deeds, (Chris Cooper) the Sheriff of Rio County, is called to the scene and arranges for a forensic examination. It soon appears that the remains are those of Charlie Wade, who had been Sheriff forty years earlier. Wade, a notoriously corrupt and violent man, had disappeared after a public confrontation with Buddy Deeds, (Matthew McConaughey) Sam's late father and one of Wade's deputies. Buddy Deeds succeeded Wade in office and was a popular and respected civic leader until his death 30 years later. It was on the strength of Buddy's reputation that Sam later became Sheriff, although it is clear that Sam's relationship with his father was a tense one. The county's new courthouse is about to be dedicated to Buddy Deeds in a public ceremony. Now it falls to Sam to investigate the killing of Wade, in which Buddy may have been involved.
Some of the older residents of Rio County, who knew both Wade and Buddy Deeds, warn Sam that investigating Wade's death may uncover things that are best left hidden. Despite these warnings Sam presses on. In the process, he reconnects with a former high school sweetheart, Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Peña), now a widow and schoolteacher with two teenage children. Buddy had forbidden Sam to see Pilar when they were teenagers; Sam had assumed that racial prejudice was the reason for Buddy's attitude, although Buddy had always enjoyed cordial relations with the county's Hispanic population.
Sam is convinced that Buddy killed Charlie Wade, but after a discussion with Otis and Hollis, it is revealed that Hollis shot Charlie to prevent him from murdering Otis. Buddy's reasons for his seeming dislike of Pilar are also revealed when Sam realizes that Buddy and Pilar's mother, Mercedes, had an affair that resulted in Pilar. In the end, Sam and Pilar decide to continue their relationship in spite of knowing they are half-siblings.
Interwoven within this are several ancillary stories, each of which shed light on the relationships between different residents of the town.
Delmore Payne (Joe Morton), the new commander of the local army base, must come to terms with a father (Otis) who abandoned him and a son who does not wish to follow in his footsteps.
Mercedes Cruz (Míriam Colón), a prominent member of the Hispanic community, is forced to deal with a past that she thought was long forgotten.
Although the film is ostensibly a murder mystery, these stories help to reveal the complexities of race relations within the town.
Janet Maslin, the film critic for The New York Times, liked the film's screenplay, the acting and directing. She wrote, "This long, spare, contemplatively paced film, scored with a wide range of musical styles and given a sun-baked clarity by Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography, is loaded with brief, meaningful encounters...And it features a great deal of fine, thoughtful acting, which can always be counted on in a film by Mr. Sayles. Though none of the actors are given much screen time, a remarkable number of them create fully formed characters in only a few scenes. Mr. Kristofferson does a superb, unflinching job as the film's personification of racist evil; Mr. Canada and Clifton James (as the mayor) capture the tensions between Frontera's black and white characters as well as a certain brotherhood under the skin. Mr. Morton and Ms. Colon both illustrate the high price of repressing one's true nature, though nobody here has the two-dimensional nature of a symbolic figure. All the film's characters are flesh and blood."[2]
Film critics Dennis West and Joan M. West discuss the psychological aspects of the film, and write, "Lone Star strikingly depicts the personal psychological boundaries that confront many citizens of Frontera as a result of living in such close proximity to the border. 'The Other Side,' an oft-repeated phrase in Frontera parlance, has assumed metaphorical dimensions, variable according to the group using it. To the 'WASPish' Anglo population, 'The Other Side' suggests an experience that is foreign, different, perhaps threatening or even dangerous. To many Mexican-Americans it represents a past history. Mercedes Cruz (Míriam Colón), for example, is all too eager (until her last scene) to conceal, ignore, and deny at all costs anything connecting her to her country of birth. She has even restyled herself as "Spanish" - presumably a more socially acceptable designation the community allows her because of her work ethic and business success. A first-generation immigrant, Mercedes remains prickly and evasive on the matter of her origins and shows no sympathy for her third-generation grandson, who would like to trace his roots on the other side."[3]
Awards
Wins
Lone Star Film & Television Awards: Best Actor, Chris Cooper; Best Director, John Sayles; Best Film; Best Screenplay, John Sayles; Best Supporting Actor, Ron Canada; Best Supporting Actress, Frances McDormand; 1996.
Chlotrudis Award: Chlotrudis Award, Best Actor, Chris Cooper; 1997.
Golden Globes: Golden Globe; Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, John Sayles; 1997.
Independent Spirit Awards: Independent Spirit Award; Best Feature, R. Paul Miller and Maggie Renzil; Best Male Lead, Chris Cooper; Best Screenplay, John Sayles; 1997.
Satellite Awards: Golden Satellite Award; Best Motion Picture - Drama, R. Paul Miller and Maggie Renzi; 1997.
Writers Guild of America: WGA Award (Screen); Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, John Sayles; 1997.
