Free State of Jones

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Gubu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell, Christopher Berry, Sean Bridgers, Jacob Lofland
Directed by: Gary Ross
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Confederate deserter (Matthew McConaughey) leads an uprising against his local government.

Review:
Tim: It's been awhile since we got a Civil War movie, so I was excited to see Free State of Jones. While watching the film, I kept feeling like it was the kind of movie I was supposed to like. It's a period action/drama about overcoming racism. It's the kind of movie that tells an important story that we're better for knowing. And yet, while watching the way-too-long (2 hours, 19 minutes) movie, I realized as it went on that despite the feeling that I "should" have liked it, I didn't really like it all that much. To be fair, this is a decent movie and worth seeing. It's just not nearly as good as it should have been.

The story itself is fairly incredible and one that I was not familiar with. It's an interesting story of blacks and whites, men and women coming together to form their own state. In many ways, they were ahead of their time. this movie is worth seeing so that we can learn this story. It's worth reflecting on the rampant racism present back then, especially because our current world still have such smoldering racism, just out of sight. This is an important movie, for sure.

Part of the issue is that I just didn't get invested in many of the characters. Matthew McConaughey does a good job acting in the lead role, but I never felt an emotional connection with his character. He's a good dude, but the film didn't dig deeply enough. It didn't feel like we truly understood Newton Knight or what made him tick. McConaughey has a ton of screen time, but the movie didn't explain his character or the motivations nearly enough. I got the character, but I didn't really know him. Gugu Mbatha-Raw gave a really strong supporting performance. I also loved Mahershala Ali here. I've been a fan of Ali from "Luke Cage", but here he gives an emotional, powerful performance. We connect more closely with Ali and Mbatha-Raw, but some of that is empathy for the disgusting racism they face. Yes, we feel emotions, but it's a tiny bit manipulative. Of course, any sane human is going to feel empathy for people in their situation. I'm glad the movie made me feel what I did (because total disgust is the only appropriate response when confronted with racism), but I don't give the movie substantial credit. It's a bit of a layup to make you feel like that given the subject matter. Keri Russell was okay, but she didn't have much to do.

I also thought the few scenes of jumping forward in time were bizarre and disruptive. Rather then telling two simultaneous stories that take place decades apart, it feels like the movie decides to flashforward way too late in the game. It was completely jarring when it first happened and confusing. The story of Knight's descendant may be interesting, but it never gelled as well as it needed to. It felt obstructive and tacked on, unnecessarily elongating the movie. Those scenes should have probably been cut, or maybe just at the end. The way they were presented just didn't work.

There's been quite a few Civil War movies made over the years. While this story hasn't been told before, the themes of racism and slavery have been explored before. I'm always up for another one, but this movie wasn't nearly as effective as a Glory or 12 Years a Slave. When you have terrific movies like that, Free State of Jones just pales in comparison. Now, it's always a good thing for audiences to recall the ugly past of the United States. For that reason, I'd definitely recommend this movie. Unfortunately, the film itself is too long and not nearly effective enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Glory, 12 Years a Slave