Lone Star 5 Star Movies
		Made: 1996 Cast:  Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, Kirs Kirstofferson, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Morton, Ron Canada, Clifton James Director: John Sayles Screenwriter: John Sayles Cinemintographer: Staurt Dryburgh Producer: Maggie Renzi, Paul Miller "It's always heartwarming to see a prejudice defeated by another, deeper prejedice."
	When Lone Star was made, there were 3 distinct races living in Texas - Spanish, African, Caucasian. Also, the movie employs 3 stylistic forms or genres - mystery (suspense, flashbacks), western (location, sheriff fights), family drama (parent-child, siblings). With all of this, the movie is hard to pin down into a category like "what is this movie about?" It just has to be seen. It is the best movie (so far) by the greatest independent filmmaker ever, John Sayles. He is a very diverse director covering everything from lesbian romances (Lianna), baseball scandals (Eight Men Out), mine worker's union struggles (Matewan), presidential candidates (Silver City), and many more topics in his films. He is up there with directors like Sidney Lumet in covering serious topics in a lighthearted manner. The story in Lone Star is about more than heroes and villains and it shows no person is perfect. All of the stories within this movie mix and mesh in interesting ways; its a wonder it's not more confusing than fun! But it is fun overall.      Sam Deeds' (Chris Cooper) father is a "hero" who is in question of a murder 40 years prior, served with flashbacks and all that. "I understand why you might wanna think he couldn't do it" says Cooper. "I understand why you might wanna think he could," says deputy Hollis (now mayor) back to him. Cooper is ever so quick to prove there is something wrong with his father's legacy, but it is less jealousy and more...well, I'll let you figure that out. This is an example of the rich characters that populate Sayles movies. There are so many interesting characters from the outset that the movie is impossible to ignore. Kris Kristofferson creates the performance of his career as the sadistic, racist sheriff. We might have seen scenes like the one b/w him and Otis before, but they have never been done better. As interesting is a cameo by Frances McDormand in only one scene; the scene makes a great doorway into Cooper's past life and ex-wife. One gets the impression her father ruined the marriage, via the allegory of "350 pounds of weight pressing down on you". The scene has a majestic quality, very against the grain for a normal film and is a scene that "shouldn't" have worked, but does.      Dialogue, written by the director Sayles, tackles hard subjects such as interpretations of the Texas-Mexico War and race relations in history. It even shares rednecks and racists points of view (including Cooper's dad). "It's always heartwarming to see a prejudice defeated by another, deeper prejudice," says one character, talking about how if so-and-so gets married to a black woman, their parents would be relived she is not homosexual. The way Lone Star juxtaposes all of the scenes is amazing in its accessibility - an example being the way it goes from Pena talking to her kids about high school life, to seeing Cooper on the street reminiscing, to a Mexican lad outspoken about Buddy, to Cooper saying he and the boy have something in common. Camerawork joins all the stories seamlessly and this is just one example. Lone Star is just one interesting scene after another, one advantage of a good mystery that you can watch over and over (and remember, this is just part mystery). The movie also comes from every angle about each subject (race relations to each other within each race, following your own dreams rather than your fathers, etc.) in a way I have never seen in any other movie; truly mindblowing. Add odd camerawork and chronological jumps, why not right?      Like all great movies, Lone Star's rewards on second viewing are present once the viewer knows some of the town's secrets. Like all great stories, it just gets better and better with age. How hard is it to make a multi-racial-mystery-western that is accessible and not dated so many years later? The film talks greatly about how "invisible lines" divide our countries and how meaningless they are. It also constantly reveals things about each detailed character but not in a relentless or forceful way; very gradual and thought out. Some detractors would say the dialogue is choppy and jumps around in parts- well, it does jump around (in a story like this you have to) but in my opinion it is seamless and always has a reason for doing so. The film draws a lot from John Ford's Man who Shot the Liberty Valence with it's stance on myths and legends. Two major mysteries are wrapped up at the end, one we knew existed and one that we didn't. Still, Sayles leaves a lot up to the audiences' intelligence. "Forget the Alamo" they say at the end....maybe in a couple more viewings I'll know what that means....