[yasr_overall_rating]
As civil war divides the nation, a poor farmer from Mississippi leads a group of rebels against the Confederate army.
“Free State Of Jones” puts you into the world of Newt Knight and his journey to leading a band of revolutionaries throughout the south in order to rid themselves of the plaguing forces of the Confederate Army as well as the mistreatment of any man, woman, or child.
Newt Knight is a freedom fighter played by Matthew McConaughey who is hated by some and loved by others (no surprise that the opinions a divided between north and south. The story of the man has now been told twice on the big screen, once in 1948 with “Tap Roots” and now with “Free State Of Jones.” The film stretches from the battle of Corinth to the mid-20th century and covers many things, the Twenty Negro Law being one of them along with apprenticeship being another. One problem with the film was that there had to be a nephew invented for Knight to return home to but in reality, he and his group of men returned due to the Twenty Negro Law. The film was fun but amidst the ordeal was the obvious plight to ignore the inner workings of a revolution such as the one the Newt led.
War photos were used to advance the film and in that one of them showed one on how confederates desertion rates rose and Newt’s army went from 5-10 to 100 without any notion how. Even though it was the south and these men were fighting for either cotton or slavery, or their farms. In the real world there was always tension between blacks and whites and Free State shows this rather large melting pot of people getting along perfectly. There were women who could shoot a gun perfectly, yet in the scene before, they didn’t even know how to load one. There were those who had looked positively at slavery sitting and dancing with those who they had wanted to own and the story seems to jump forward without the right state of progression and it hurts the film.
Newt Knight, even though history recalls him as a badass, the film reduces him to a historical tour guide, one who is both a pacifist and a warrior at the same time. McConaughey seemed like the perfect actor for this role. His previous experiences with “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Mud” showed that he wasn’t only meant for the good ol’ boy routine but he could hunker down and add a dark tone to his wild eyed demeanor. The film lets that shine through but not to the point one would hope. In the end the, film is one that is very watchable, if you ignore all the missteps in both history and the plot’s inner workings. It does need to be said though, it is one that will put the liberals on their high horse even though it is a white savior sort of film.
In theaters Friday, June 24th
Rather than bog the story down, the women obviously learned how to shoot a gun in between fit’s handling a gun and being competent enough to aim & Fire. I found the movie to move along well ,in a reasonable manner and was thoroughly entertaining.