Free State of Jones

Free State of Jones is the least idiosyncratic film by Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games), whose askew view of the world is fogged by period-piece banalities, worst of all in easy-to-hate villains and Knight’s ex-slave sidekick named Moses (Mahershala Ali).

3119d ago

Not even McConaughey can make good drama from Free State Of Jones.

3119d ago

As we abruptly transition to the Reconstruction, what was once a languid drama turns even more into an checklist of isolated historical events, but considering the relative lack of representation on screen, it’s slightly more compelling than what came before.

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Unfortunately, it’s so ambitious that it’s constantly straining to find a focus.

3119d ago

Ross' smooth, steady film is just interesting enough to make you wish it were a lot grittier, and better.

3119d ago

'Free State of Jones': Matthew McConaughey's Civil War epic sure is long.

3119d ago

Gary Ross’ “Free State of Jones” is based on one of the most fascinating true stories of the Civil War. It tells of a rebellion against the Confederacy led by an angry farmer named Newton Knight, whose ragtag army of poor whites and escaped slaves declared a portion of southeastern Mississippi, including Jones County, independent and loyal to the Union.

3119d ago

A curiously forgotten episode in Civil War history gets an educational but emotionally dry telling from writer-director Gary Ross.

3119d ago

Nevertheless, Ross’s failure is a noble one: He seems obsessed with this story and wants to tell the whole thing. But he doesn’t have the time or narrative juice.

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Matthew McConaughey plays a Confederate deserter turned guerrilla saint in a Civil War drama more dogged than exciting.

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As gratifying as it is to see forgotten history brought to light, it’s disappointing, too: There’s an epic story to be told within Free State of Jones, but this white-knight tale isn’t it.

3119d ago

After its bracing opening, the film begins to indulge the worst impulses of well-meaning liberal cinema.

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Matthew McConaughey stars as Newton Knight, the Mississippi farmer who led a rebellion against the Confederacy from the inside with the help of renegade slaves.

3119d ago

Writer/director Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) brings to the screen a fascinating yet little-known episode of American history in Free State of Jones.

3119d ago

A fictionalised account of the life of Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), who deserts the Confederate army after the 1862 Battle of Corinth.

3119d ago

Strong acting often lends authenticity to writing that lacks it, and Mr. McConaughey is, to be sure, an exceptionally strong actor. Yet this screenplay is so arid in its didacticism, so pallid in its would-be passion, that it defeats his efforts and our involvement.

3119d ago

Matthew McConaughey wants to free the slaves or die tryin' in this civics lesson of a Civil War drama.

3119d ago