“It’s not like there’s a line between the good people and the bad people. It is not like you’re one or the other.”

Justin’s rating: Pro tip: If you’re in a film class and need a movie for a project that’ll impress your teacher and fellow students while not being something everyone’s heard of, us this. It deserves to be studied.

Justin’s review: Lone Star begins with one kick of a mystery hook — a bleached skeleton in the desert sporting an old rusty sheriff badge.

This is of particular concern to the current sheriff of Texas’ Frontera, Sam Deeds (the always-excellent Chris Cooper), who picked up the mantle from his hero cop father Buddy (Matthew McConaughey). Legend goes that Buddy was the knight in shining armor that kicked out the vile sheriff Charles Wade (Kris Kristofferson) before him, but that pesky skeleton may say otherwise.

(As an aside, I found it strange that McConaughey was the dad and Cooper the son — I would’ve cast them the other way around.)

But it’s not just about three sheriffs across two generations. It’s also about a Texas town on the border where 19 out of 20 people are Mexican and everyone is de-segregating. It’s about the closure of an Army post that’s going to affect the whole area. It’s about lies and obfuscation muddled by stories and myths. It’s about politicians making dirty money and pushing questionable projects. It’s about the sins of the father visiting upon the son. It’s about parents, haunted by their upbringing, trying to do better for their children. It’s about racial tensions that keep towns divided. It’s about the complexity of people who are capable of both great and terrible acts.

Most of all, it’s about a blossoming love story between Sam and his childhood sweetheart Pilar (Elizabeth Pina) and Sam’s lingering resentment of his father, whom he always saw as a tyrant and not the hero everyone thought him to be. There’s no doubt that Wade was a controlling, murderous thug, but it’s not like Buddy was lily white either. Yet he was a boon to the town and more of an ally to people than its dictator.

It’s no inconsequential detail that Lone Star is set in Texas, not just for its melting pot of races or location so close to another country. It’s because this state, perhaps more than most, clings to and elevates its legends and sacred history. What we see in the movie is a microcosm of that.

As stories and revelations are told of the prior generation, Lone Star’s signature move comes into play. This involves transitioning from the present to the past within the same scene simply by moving the camera over and other characters and props appear. It’s hard to explain, but when you see it, it’s slick as snot. I kind of wish all movies with flashbacks did it this way. It’s so elegant. Like snot.

Despite its western trappings, Lone Star is as much of a film noir as, say, Twin Peaks. Your protagonist is dedicated and smart, yet he’s repeatedly warned away from digging too deep for reasons unknown. I knew right away that even when the mystery was solved, it wasn’t going to be without some sense of loss and a twist or two. You can’t leave a noir feeling upbeat, after all!

If you’re looking for a real meal of a movie rather than junk food or a light snack, Lone Star should fill you up. I found it an engrossing, masterfully made movie with a giant reservoir of acting, characters, stories, and tensions.

Intermission!

• That old Castle Rock logo still hits
• “Man knows 150 different varieties of beer, can’t tell a poinsettia from a prickly pear.”
• “He’s all hat and no cattle.”
• Love those amazing scene transitions from the present to the past
• “You ever shoot a man who’s looking at you in the eye, Charlie?”
• “When we find a body, it’s either skinny or stinky, depending on how much meat is left on the bones.”
• “That badge…” “…didn’t come out of a cereal box.”
• The fishing metaphor as a reference to Sam’s tackling of this case
• The old lady addicted to the Gameboy
• “Sheriff Deeds is dead, honey. You’re just Sheriff Junior.” “Story of my life.”
• “Had him a smile like the ol’ Grim Reaper.”
• “Tu madre?” “Mhm.” “Lo siento.”
• “Nobody stays in love for 23 years.”