Free State of Jones
Director: Gary Ross
Talent: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell
Release Date: 30th September
Set during and after the American Civil War, Free State of Jones tells the true story of Newton Knight (McConaughey), a field medic in the Confederate Army who, after growing disillusioned with the conflict, deserts, returns home to his wife (Russel) and eventually leads the farmer and slave populations of Jones County, Mississippi in armed rebellion against a government that would steal from its citizens in order to feed the troops. Along the way, Knight develops a long-lasting friendship with Moses (Ali), a runaway, and falls in love with healer and house slave Rachel (Mbatha-Raw).
Gary Ross provides competent direction and the cast is uniformly excellent, but this is ultimately a failure at script level. Every time the story threatens to build a head of steam, momentum is sapped by interminable sequences of inter-titles spewing out historical background, while a 1960s-set subplot feels largely superfluous. Finally, despite clear attempts to avoid becoming yet another “white saviour” narrative, this is precisely what happens in the end to this well-intentioned misfire.
Words: Felipe Deakin
