Lone Star

Writer/Dir: John Sayles (The Secret of Roan Inish, Passion Fish)
Cast: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Frances McDormand, Matthew McConaughey, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Tootoosis
USA, 1996

Seen: November 4, 2007 thanks to the Toronto Public Library

Reason to see: Western month pick! I also believe there was a remark about it in a recent Filmspotting podcast

I will admit this one was a bit of a goof of a pick. I was thinking of the play Lonestar, and assumed it was the same story but it isn't. It did get a Oscar nom for best writing though. I did not realize it was going to be in a contemporary setting.

I found this to be a very ambitious film in terms of storylines and content, there were so many different things going on it was a bit of a challenge to keep track. A lot of the storylines were interesting be they ones about solving a mystery, relationships or social issues (primarily racism). Due to the film being very different from myh initial expectations I found that I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have, and I was left wanting to know more certain things and felt I knew way more than I needed to about other things. I was impressed by Chris Cooper's performance and felt that was what kept me in for the long haul.

Shannon's Overall View:
It had some interesting elements
I'd watch it one more time
I'd recommend it to current day western drama fans

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© Shannon Ridler, 2007