Lone Star (1996)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Sayles

Writer (WGA):

John Sayles (written by)

Release Date:

21 June 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Western

Tagline:

John Sayles invites you to return to the scene of the crime.

Plot:

When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Texas | Skeleton | Border | Bar

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Stephen Mendillo	...	Cliff
Stephen J. Lang	...	Mikey
Chris Cooper	...	Sam
Elizabeth Peña	...	Pilar
Oni Faida Lampley	...	Celie
Eleese Lester	...	Molly
Joe Stevens	...	Deputy Travis
Gonzalo Castillo	...	Amado
Richard Coca	...	Enrique
Clifton James	...	Hollis
Tony Frank	...	Fenton
Miriam Colon	...	Mercedes Cruz
Kris Kristofferson	...	Charlie Wade
Jeff Monahan	...	Young Hollis
Matthew McConaughey	...	Buddy Deeds

MPAA:

Rated R for brief language, sex and violence.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | France:U | South Korea:15 | USA:TV-MA | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | Germany:12 (w) | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:AA

Filming Locations:

Del Rio, Texas, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The hands seen laying out the bones in this movie belong to David Glassman, a forensic anthropologist at Southwest Texas State University.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Sheriff Charlie Wade is armed with a Colt 'New Frontier' revolver, first introduced in 1961 by Colt as an updated version of the old Colt 'Peacemaker'. The events in the film take place in 1957 and 1958.

Quotes:

Mikey: Hey, Cliff!
Cliff: What'd you find? Pieces of eight? Relics from the Coronado expedition?
Mikey: Cliff, come here!
[Cliff comes over and sees a half-buried skeleton in the ground]
Cliff: Jesus...
[Mikey lifts a ring out of the ground]
Mikey: Was Coronado in the Masons?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 69th Annual Academy Awards (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

My Love Is

Brilliant

Ive always admired Sayles as a writer and a filmmaker. His early films (Secaucus 7, Brother from Another Planet) even though they were rough and messy had wit and brilliant acting, but when he gets it right, he gets it right: Matewan and City of Hope are two examples of multi-layered stories with believable three-dimensional people in powerful situations. Lone Star is an amazing film: characters that are on screen for even a few minutes come of as real people, flesh and blood, no cardboard cut-outs here. Great performances from Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Morton and many, many more. Taut, funny, thrilling and emotional. Great film by a great talent.