Date: Fri 12-Jul-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-13

Quick Words:

Playing-Lone-Star-Texas-races

Full Text:

(Now Playing on "Lone Star," 7/12/96)

Now Playing-

A `Lone'-ly But Interesting Alternative

By Trey Paul Alexander III

One can almost hear the faint echoes of glass rapping upon glass as scores of

Hollywood honchos toast the success of this summer's box office offerings. You

know you've got the public eating out of the palm of your hand when seemingly

every newspaper, local news program, sidewalk conversation and TV commercial

has something to do with Independence Day , The Hunchback of Notre Dame ,

Twister , or any of the other hit films that have arrived in theatres across

the country since May. No doubt about it: People have been flocking to the big

screen this summer to see what all the fuss is about.

Lone Star , a film unlikely to be on most teens' must-see list of movies for

the summer, is nevertheless an interesting alternative to the whiz-bang

wizardry and pyrotechnics of its celluloid counterparts. While many of the

Hollywood blockbusters could easily be summed up in few words, the essence of

this new tale from writer-director-editor John Sayles ( The Secret of Roan

Inish , City of Hope ) is much more elusive. But after the film's 134-minute

running time has expired, at least one thing is sure: Lone Star features some

of the most complex, deft storytelling of any of the films this year.

Stripped to its barest essentials, Lone Star , which is playing at the Bethel

Cinema, deals with a 40-year old murder in the province of Rio County, an area

on the Texas-Mexico border. But in so doing, the film, which is layered with

flashbacks that transport its viewers to 1957, the year of the crime, also

tackles a host of characters, both peripheral and integral to the main story,

and adeptly juggles their individual tales with the interweaving murder

mystery.

A 40-year-old body is identified as Charley Wade (Kris Kristofferson), the

county's villainous sheriff from the 1950s. Wade's disappearance in 1957 was

welcomed, to say the least, because it made way for his deputy, Buddy Deeds

(Matthew McConaughey, a newcomer in a minor role who is expected to rocket to

stardom in A Time To Kill ), whom the county has idolized with legends about

his noble character.

The person hoping to solve this case is Buddy's son, somber sheriff Sam Deeds

(Chris Cooper), a man whom one would expect to have a vested interest in this

investigation. But Sam, unlike others in the county, has no tall tales of

Buddy, and when evidence points to his father as the murderer, he pursues the

course with vigilance, much to the chagrin of his fellow townsfolk.

Rio County's locale at the Texas-Mexico border also gives the film a potent

subtext about relations between the races, including whites, blacks and

Hispanics. It appears that all characters along the way, including a Hispanic

teacher (Elizabeth Pena), an African-American family (headed by Joe Morton)

and a Latino restaurateur (Miriam Colon), are in the midst of strife and

dysfunction.

My first reaction was a frightening remembrance of Rodney King's plea, "Can't

we all just get along?" But Sayles has gone deeper by suggesting the most

formidable barrier between progress of any kind is the battle with our past,

and allowing history to shape how we face the future.

Lone Star is a wonderful puzzle that gratifyingly takes shape as the picture

nears its end. Its many twists and turns will keep you riveted to the screen

without the use of artificial climaxes and ridiculous red herrings. Of the

performances, all the characters are neatly realized and given meaningful

scenes, but an especially effective Kristofferson, delectably dripping with

menace, stands out.

Rated R for profanity, violence and one sexual sequence, Lone Star ranks with

Fargo as one of the unique American moviegoing experiences of 1996. Unlike

Fargo , this film does not bludgeon us with dark comedy and graphic violence,

but instead takes a more cerebral approach with results that are just as

satisfying.