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Critics Consensus: Free State of Jones has the noblest of intentions, but they aren't enough to make up for its stilted treatment of a fascinating real-life story.
Critic Consensus: Free State of Jones has the noblest of intentions, but they aren't enough to make up for its stilted treatment of a fascinating real-life story.
All Critics (184) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (85) | Rotten (99) | DVD (1)
A better film would have muddled the clean white-savior narrative with an actual exploration of what the racial politics of a mixed-race insurgency in the South might have been like.
It certainly looks and sounds right, and probably smells right too -- these gunky Mississippi battles and unwashed soldiers feel authentic. The problem, as with McConaughey's performance, is that you always do feel it.
The director and screenwriter Gary Ross illuminates immense historical spans with the true story of one man's revolt during the Civil War.
Ross bit off more than he can chew... the story lolls and wallows in wartime violence and the rebellion, then rushes through the horrors and trauma of Reconstruction.
A Civil War rebellion becomes an enervating movie by Gary Ross.
As inherently astonishing and powerful as this little-known episode is, it has not been well-served by Ross' lumpy, ill-conceived script, which ends up wasting Matthew McConaughey's terrific lead performance and other strong acting contributions.
Free State of Jones has its moments of clumsiness, but it also has scenes that are rousing and a story that, as they say, makes learning fun.
As it stands, the film isn't a complete mess, but with its slow pace and lack of cohesion, it does leave a lot to be desired.
It's a powerful, moving story, but that doesn't mean it moves quickly. [It's a] very serious and often grim film.
There's much in Jones worth seeing and considering-for those who can stomach the war violence.
The interrelations between characters may be superficial and there's a wearisome didactic element, but this new film contains some powerful scenes...Free State doesn't fail to generate interest, even if it lacks any cinematic distinction.
Director Gary Ross treats the movie like a glorified history lesson complete with shockingly amateur and inept filmmaking decisions at every corner
Sometimes in a enervatingly slowly pace, this film tells a pretty fascinating, untold story. There are moments of brilliance, but while some parts drag out forever, others feel rushed. In the end, a lot of developments are merely covered in text captions. Overall a decent attempt that could have had even more of an emotional impact with a more condensed script. McConaughey is not to blame, he delivers the goods, as always.
Super Reviewer
Matthew McConaughey stars in the extraordinarily compelling biopic the Free State of Jones. The film follows the life of Newt Knight, a medic in the Confederate Army who deserted to protect his hometown from looters and ended up leading a rebellion made up of deserters and runaway slaves. McConaughey gives an excellent performance and brings a lot of charisma to the film. However, the storytelling is a bit problematic, as it takes on too much; skipping around a lot and working in a subplot about Newt's great-grandson. However, the production values are especially good, giving an authentic look and feel for the time period. And the drama is really intense and exciting. Free State of Jones has a few problems, but overall it's a compelling film about a fascinating piece of American history.
"Free State of Jones" is an interesting history lesson -- although lacking the panache and dynamism of an actual history lesson. The script is plodding and unfocued, and the story is puzzlingly episodic. The costumes and locations are good, but McConaughey oozes contemporary morality and seems ill-suited for this period piece. The only noticably good acting was from Mahershala Ali. The film might have as lief been entitled "Talent-Free State of Jones". Spend your ticket money on popcorn and just hang out in the theater lobby, kids. This one's a stinker.
Well meaning and somberly recreated, Free State of Jones is a historical drama that wants to illuminate the story of Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) who deserted from the Confederate army and seceded from the very people who seceded from the United States. Knight and the people of Jones county Mississippi declared themselves independent and awaited the consequences. At first the Confederate army is annoyed, but as armed skirmishes increase and Knight's team swells with poor farmers and runaway slaves, garnering Robin Hood-esque folk hero status, you're expecting an escalating level of force that will doom Newton. We've seen this kind of historical drama before where men (usually men) of courage and politics ahead of their time are stamped out by the forces of oppression and we then celebrate their noble sacrifice. I kept waiting for Jones to go this route, and then (slight historical spoilers) the Civil War ends and instead the last half hour is an episodic history tour that includes the rise of the KKK, registering freed black men for voting, and early voter suppression acts. There is also a storyline strewn throughout that takes place in a 1940s Mississippi courtroom. At first you're left scratching your head about the flash forwards, and then the connections come to bear. We're watching Knight's (great?) grandson and his legal troubles because the courts don't know whether he's the byproduct of Newton's first wife (Kerri Russell), who left him, or his common law second wife (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a former slave. It's a storyline that just doesn't really gel with the movie as a whole and really only serves to remind you that 100 years later Mississippi was still a pretty terrible place to live. Free State of Jones' failure is that it doesn't make this slice of history emotionally engaging. We don't get a strong sense of whom Newton is as a person except for his 99% rabble rousing. His relationship with Mbatha-Raw's character is the most engaging part of the film given its inherent conflict, and I'll credit writer/director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) with how restrained he is about dealing with her sexual abuse from slavery. The relationship is treated very tenderly and Mbatha-Raw aces her scenes. Also warning to dog lovers: there are several sequences of violence against man's best friend that will be hard to watch. Free State of Jones works better as a history lesson rather than as a fully formed movie. Nate's Grade: C+
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