Review of Free State of Jones (2016) by Movie M — 23 Nov 2016

Wow. The potential that "Free State Of Jones" had, with its premise, and outstanding acting, would have easily put it at the top of the 2016 movies list, however it somehow still missed. I was captivated by the topics that were dealt with in this movie, as Gary Ross did a great job at touching on as many topics as possible during the Civil War in the late 19th century, however I don't think I could say the same for many others.

While I was entertained for a lot of this movie, there were some scenes that dragged on WAY too long, and made the movie extremely boring. "Free State Of Jones" goes all out, trying its best to become extremely compelling, moving, and, inspiring, and in most aspects, it does.

However, there were some areas of this movie that were not polished (those boring scenes), and that really messed up its potential. While the acting from Matthew McConaughey (Newton Knight), Mahershala Ali (Moses Washington), and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Rachel) were absolutley outstanding (I'm talking easily Oscar worthy), the overall movie just wasn't strong enough for them to carry all the way, and will still lose the interest of a lot of audiences.

What I like most about this movie, though, is the way it took you through history, you got to see firsthand the bloodiness of one of the most brutal wars, the extreme hardships of slavery in the 1800's, and everything in between, so I will give it praise for it's excellent use of history telling.

However, despite unbelievable potential, fantastic acting, a moving and compelling plot, "Free State Of Jones" is too long, and with the boring scenes, will lose the interest of many people, although is still good enough to watch if you're bored.