Review of Free State of Jones (2016) by Maksim B — 11 Mar 2017

Meant to be an award season contender, but trashed by the critics, Free State of Jones is an intriguing real-life story, performed by terrific actors, but suffering from muddled story-telling and slow pacing. Rather a sort of history lesson than a dramatization, the movie brings up a less known part of the US history, but fails to do something remarkable with these inspiring events.

Free State of Jones tells the story of the southern farmer and ex-confederate soldier Newt Knight (Matthew McConaughey) and his rebellion against the Confederacy, which led to the separation of a the small Jones County, Mississippi from the Confederacy. The story is truly remarkable as it depicts events which many did not know (especially non-US viewers). With the interesting premises and the dedicated and powerful performances of McConaughey one would naturally expect to have a captivating, emotionally loaded and provocative historical drama. Unfortunately, these expectations are only partially met due slow pacing and lack of emotional connection with the audience. Director Gary Ross' movie is somehow too dry and too clinical, almost as a history lesson, instead of engrossing and emotional experience meant to haunt the viewers long after the final credits. In spite of McConaughey's devoted performance and the fine supporting work of Maherashala Ali, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and company the movie Gary Ross'delivery underperforms.

It is not that Free State of Jones is a bad movie, on the contrary, it is interesting and educating, yet it simply fails to match the initially high expectations. With no connection with the audience, the movie just fails to materialize its true potential and remains a passable delivery if spotted on any of the TV channels.