Lone Star (1996)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"Lone Star" is one of my all-time favorite films. I've watched it at least six times and each time I catch subtle nuances that I hadn't noticed before. I find it much more enjoyable, engaging and interesting than "Casablanca," "Strangers on a Train," "Citizen Kane" or "The Seventh Seal." The plot is simple, yet complex. The characters are ordinary, yet multi-dimensional. The film is a detective story / mystery, a love story, a tale of redemption and a multi-layered slice-of- life. Performances are uniformly excellent. Technical aspects are more than adequate and of a quality that never distracts. The viewer never notices or is distracted by the make-up, lighting, wardrobe or sets, even though some seem contrived on repeated viewings. The two exceptions are editing and musical score, which are often noticeable, but not in a negative way. It's more like, "Wow, that was a slick transition" or "What a great song!" This is a film that everybody should watch at least three or four times.

It's implied on the box for "Lone Star" that Kris Kristofferson takes center stage as an monstrously corrupt sheriff (which I took to mean something like Denzel in "Training Day"). And though he is wicked, he's much more a fringe player. That was a surprise, but it turned out to be far from unpleasant. This movie is much more complicated than that; its Texas border town steeped in fictionalized history, where prejudices are ingrained and everything - right down to the characters - is more complex than at first glance. It's a procedural, but slow-burning and character-driven, and I found myself caring deeply for these people (Cooper and Peña, especially). It's very well cast (Frances McDormand's a trip in this movie) and the flashbacks are handled seamlessly with a subtle camera move. And the final fifteen minutes makes for some of the finest cinema pay-off ever, where everything finally gets laid out and you're treated to a series of narrative punches to the face.Very well done.8/10

The sad news of Elizabeth Pena's death earlier this week (on 14.10.14) aged only 55 prompted me to watch the DVD of this superb movie again.The action takes place over 6 days commencing on a Tuesday morning with the discovery of a skeleton in an abandoned rifle range outside the border town of Frontera, Texas. This brings the mystery of the sudden, unexplained disappearance 40 years earlier of the town's bullying, psychopath Sheriff, Charlie Wade (played with great menace by Kris Kristofferson - there was a collective intake of breath amongst the cinema audience every time he came on screen when I first saw the film here in London in 1996!), back to the fore amongst the older residents of Frontera.Chiefly concerned is the current Sheriff, Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) whose father (& long-term predecessor as Sheriff) Buddy had long been suspected of murdering Wade. The twists and turns of the plot as Sam talks to people who had known his two predecessors in the town & across the border in Mexico are gradually skilfully tied together. During these few days, Sam also re-kindles his romance with his high school sweetheart Pilar (played with understated elegance by Elizabeth Pena), which Buddy had forcibly ended 23 years earlier.Mr Sayles also uses a "tracking" technique several times in the film to great effect by switching from events happening now to those taking place in the past, using exactly the same locations.A couple of slight carps - the character of young Hollis (Buddy Deeds' co Deputy Sheriff to Charlie Wade 40 years earlier) is very under-developed, so he unfortunately comes across as a complete nonentity, & the two characters of Wesley Birdsong (Gordon Tootoosis) & Bunny, Sam's "tightly wound" ex-wife (an electrifying 5 minute performance by Frances McDormand) each appear out of the blue 3/4 of the way through the film with very little connection to the action up to that point - but, between them, manage to provide the final clues to enable Sam to solve the murder mystery!These are very minor criticisms in what is a beautifully shot & acted, enthralling murder mystery, which also shows how people of different cultures manage to co-exist astride the US - Mexico border. This was the first John Sayles movies I ever saw, & remains his finest, although all his other 17 films are very well worth seeing as well.

If anything I found this one a little too complex; there were several threads that seemed totally unrelated to the main thrust of the story. It's also, I felt, a little too long; the filmmakers are asking quite a lot for an audience to concentrate for two hours and fifteen minutes. It is slow paced, but I didn't particularly mind that; I'm used to the noir style and it is usually quite a slow burner. Some great performances with Chris Cooper coping well with the leading role and Kris Kristofferson playing the villain of the peace with gusto. Also we have Elizabeth Peña, who did an excellent job as the female lead and a small part for Matthew McConaughey as Buddy Deeds. Although it does have its problems I still found it an excellent watch; definitely one to look out for for all you noir fans out there.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 7.5/10.You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.