‘Free State of Jones’ review: Stretches beyond its Civil War genesis

Matthew McConaughey stars in "Free State of Jones," as Newton Knight, a Confederate Army deserter who becomes the charismatic leader of a secessionist territory based on racial equality. Credit: STX Productions / Murray Close
PLOT During the Civil War, a Southern farmer rebels against the Confederacy. Based on true events.
CAST Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali
RATED R (Bloody violence)
LENGTH 2:19
BOTTOM LINE Strong work from McConaughey as a charismatic leader, but the film’s meandering historical scope will test your patience.
Good intentions become a fatal flaw in “Free State of Jones,” Gary Ross’ epic-length biography of a fascinating figure in Southern history. Matthew McConaughey plays Newton Knight, a Confederate Army deserter who becomes the charismatic leader of a secessionist territory based on racial equality.
“Free State of Jones” is an authentic-looking film with strong work from a fine cast, but it makes the fatal mistake of trying to broaden its scope to encompass nearly 90 years of race relations in the United States.
Knight is a somewhat murky figure who has been painted as both hero and opportunist, but “Free State of Jones” — written by Ross — chooses to hang a halo over the man.
Barely a moment goes by when Knight is not rescuing a wounded soldier, freeing a chained slave or outwitting white bullies. If we buy this line, it’s thanks largely to McConaughey, a natural in the role of a lean, flinty, principled Southern man.
Any film about a ragtag army, from “Braveheart” to Ross’ own “The Hunger Games” is bound to have its rousing moments, and “Free State of Jones” has its share. The movie’s violence can be strong and even a bit overdone, with strangulations, castrations and imploded faces. Still, the movie conveys genuine outrage at the injustices and terrors of the era. That makes the love between Knight and Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a house slave, seem less like an obligatory romance and more like a triumph.
One of the film’s most harrowing sequences involves the freedman Moses (an Oscar-worthy Mahershala Ali) as he attempts to register blacks to vote. Therein, however, lies a problem. “Free State of Jones” continues past the Civil War through emancipation, reconstruction and all the way up to the late 1940s, when a light-skinned descendant of Knight (Brian Lee Franklin) runs afoul of entrenched racial laws.
That storyline, told in flash-forwards, wrecks the rhythm of the movie and takes us out of the more compelling Civil War drama.
“Free State of Jones” wants to show that Knight’s enemy — namely, racism — hasn’t yet been vanquished. That’s a valid point to make, but the result is an overlong and meandering movie.
Four popular Jones characters
What’s in a name? In the case of the Civil War drama “Free State of Jones,” it brings to mind movies featuring some of the most popular characters named Jones.
CARMEN JONES (1954) — Otto Preminger directed this lusty musical drama that transferred “Carmen” from Spain to the Deep South and featured Bizet’s music and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The film’s real attraction was the fiery Oscar-nominated performance by Dorothy Dandridge in the title role.
TOM JONES (1963) — Albert Finney earned his first of five Oscar nominations the bawdy hero of Henry Fielding’s classic novel set in 18th century England. The movie won four Academy Awards, including best picture.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) — Harrison Ford had his tough firmly planted in cheek as adventurer Indiana Jones in this Steven Spielberg blockbuster that served as a big-budget throwback to the movie serials of the 1930s. Several sequels followed, and a fifth Indy movie is in the works.
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY (2001) — Londoner Jones (Renée Zellweger) wants to shake up her life, so she starts keeping a diary. After losing weight, quitting smoking and attracting the eye of her boss (Hugh Grant), she soon has plenty of material for her diary in this sexy comedy. The characters pop up again in the September movie “Bridget Jones’s Baby.”
— Daniel Bubbeo
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