Lone Star

Pros: great acting, great story, good pacing
Cons: none

Lone Star is one of those little-known movie gems that draws me back in again and again. I’ve already rented it twice to watch, and will probably soon add it to my permanent DVD collection. Yes, it’s that good. It doesn’t ...

Pros: Nice shots of Texas, good acting, particularly Kris Kristofferson as the bad guy
Cons: Slow, confusing – too many themes and sub-plots.

Director: John Sayles Cast Chris Cooper - Sam Deeds Elizabeth Peña - Pilar Cruz Joe Stevens - Deputy Travis Clifton James - Mayor Hollis Pogue Miriam Colon - Mercedes Cruz Kris Kristofferson - Sheriff Charlie Wade Matthew Mc ...

Pros: Great cast; good direction.
Cons: Overly complex, confusing screenplay; unoriginal themes.

Independent films have been gaining respect in recent years because they're totally different from the mainstream. What's so surprising about John Sayles' "Lone Star" is that it's really a glamorous Hollywood movie in dirty clothes. We get a 40-year-old ...

Pros: An absorbing story with first-rate performances by the leads.
Cons: Some uneven acting in the minor roles. No DVD features.

My criterion for a five-star movie rating is the desire to watch it over and over again. In some stories, it's peeling away the layers of a mystery. In others, it's finding levels of foreshadowing or tracking the development of troubled and complex ...

Pros: Fantastic acting by Kris Kristofferson and Chris Cooper. Complex story line.
Cons: None

Every once in a while, I grab a movie at my local video rental store just because it sounds interesting, or something caught my eye. In this case, I had just seen The Secret of Roan Innish, also by director John Sayles, which I like very much. But...

Pros: Chris Cooper's performance, John Sayle's direction and writing
Cons: nothing

"Lone Star" is one of the most intelligent and realistic portraits of modern-day and yesterday's racism. If it was merely the twisty, intriguing mystery that it is it would still be excellent, but throwing in these themes makes it a great film.
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Pros: Gripping performances!
Cons: We don't get enough at this level of quality...

Released in 1996, this 134 minute treatise on the machinations of a small border town, is filled with mystery, suspense, and social commentary. Writer and Director John Sayles, once again proves his genius with an outstanding cast, featuring such...

Pros: involving, complex
Cons: slow and steady wins the race

This is a haunting movie by John Sayles, one about real dilemmas that crop up in even the most benign and backwater of small towns.

The new sheriff here, excellently played by Chris Cooper, who will go on to a more cliched and one-dimensional...

Pros: Politically correct
Cons: Politically correct, too many subplots, too long, unrealistic ending

I wanted to see "Lone Star" because I read an enthusiastic review of this film. After I watched it, though, I wondered if I had seen the same film as the one I read about.

"Lone Star" is the story of a son of a bullying...

Pros: A brilliant character study with examinations of history and memory
Cons: The film almost stretches itself too thin, character wise

"John Sayles invites you to return to the scene of the crime" boasts this film's promotional tag line, and what an invitation that is for anyone familiar with the extremely talented writer/director/editor's previous work. John Sayles is the...

Pros: a subtle story, great acting
Cons: Slow moving, technical errors

Some movies grow on me. This is one. "Lone Star" is on the surface a simple murder mystery set on the Texas Border in the mythical town of Frontera. Soldiers at the local Army Post find a human skeleton on an old rifle range. The bones are...

Pros: Awesome from beginning to end
Cons: nothing

Every facet of this movie builds to an incredible viewing experience. The small town atmosphere is evoked with care and detail, and the characters within it drawn so naturally and such respect that it's impossible to watch only part of it, which was my...

Pros: A SLEEPER of a great movie if there ever was one!
Cons: I wanted a longer epilogue part.

LONE STAR

THIS tough, gritty little contempo Western is so real you can smell the salsa and taste the fear Kris Kristofferson as the Big Bad Sherriff engenders.

It makes you think that certain instances of cold-blooded murder...