"Lone Star" was John Sayles' first look at a state, followed by "Limbo" (Alaska),"Sunshine State" (Florida) and "Silver City" (Colorado). This one focuses on a border town in Texas, and the influences of and conflicts between the white, black and Hispanic populations there. It starts when they discover the remains of racist Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson),murdered under mysterious circumstances many years earlier; Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) leads the investigation. In the process of everything, we get to see - among other things - the battle over education in the Lone Star State: the school only wants to teach the white people's side of history, but Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Pena) wants to teach it from the Mexican point of view. As it is, this town carries many secrets, many of which are about to blow open. This was, in my opinion, John Sayles' greatest movie ever. It is not to be missed.

In "Lone Star", a skull is found in an isolated part of a Texas border county which begins an investigation by the local Sheriff who must unlock a closet full of skeletons to solve the mystery. Critically acclaimed and a high scoring flick on this website, "Lone Star" is a film to be reckoned with. It features solid performances without the usual blockbuster star power, an engaging story, a real feel, and masterful editing which allows for a seamless presentation of the numerous flashbacks required to tell the story. You'll find little emoting or little reason to emote in this matter-of-fact contemporary film which ends with a kicker. Worth a look for just about anyone mature enough for the subject matter.

I just reviewed a few weeks ago another film of the same title that's about the annexation of Texas into the USA. The origins of Texas contribute a whole lot to the Texas of today that you see depicted in this Lone Star.

Sheriff Chris Cooper, the son of the previous sheriff, gets a nice little mystery to solve when some skeletal remains turn up on the old rifle range of an army base soon to close down. Those remains turn out to be those of Kris Kristofferson, the sheriff before Cooper's father. He'd just disappeared around the same time as $10,000.00 of county funds had up and vanished also.

As Cooper investigates a whole lot about the ugly underbelly of racism emerges. Also some unlikely heroes emerge out of Lone Star which actually gives an optimistic tone to Lone Star.

Look for some really outstanding performances by Kris Kristofferson as a truly malevolent portrait of a tyrant without accountability and from Clifton James who is the mayor of the town and back in the day was Kristofferson's deputy.

John Sayles puts together a winner of a film and a true portrait of the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary Texas.