It goes without saying that the American Civil War was an
extremely dark time in United States history. For years gruesome barbaric events
flooded multiple states for all, especially those of color. There’s a number of
heroic tales that can be told during this time of mayhem. Wherever you threw a
rock it would land in a place that had an unwelcoming presence of pain and
torture. So to pick the Free State of
Jones out of the bunch as a necessary story to tell must have been
compelling. To me that’s what a true story worthy of a Hollywood production
would entail. A story worth mentioning that will remind the people where they
came from, as a lightning rod of truth to never go back to. Did Free State of Jones have this? Not
at all. It’s just another history lesson surrounded by a man, and his so-called
inconveniences, while being compared to slavery; which is ridiculously
embarrassing.
Taking a glance at his past credits, I’d say I’m fond of
director Gary Ross’ (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, and The Hunger
Games) previous work. He has a unique way of making you care about the
characters. So with Free State of
Jones I did care initially. With Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) becoming a rebel against the Confederate army,
why wouldn’t I be on his side? Whether he was against ignorant, hateful racism,
or the fact that he was fighting a war that wasn’t his fight, his reason for
departing was respected. Though after a while of watching him carry out his
quest, I was intrigued to see exactly why the story was focusing on him. Of
course the audience found out later, and I was extremely disappointed with the
outcome.
Before we jump to the end I did feel the film was entirely
too long. The film was filled with important parts of history, but none that
helped any of the character development for the characters we’re trying to
follow. It felt like an unnecessary history lesson with dramatic scenes that never
truly fulfilled themselves. Take when Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) was caught by her master trying to learn to
read. Intense music filled the air, getting you to the edge of your seat, but then
the film cuts away to someone picking cotton. I want to know what happened
next! There were too many instances where this happened with no pay off. At
first things were great. A group of rebels getting stronger and stronger each
day, but it never went anywhere. So after a while you’re just watching back to
back scenes with no weight, and an occasional time stamp flashes on the screen
to mention an important mark in history that we already knew, diluting what
came previously.
Besides the main protagonist Newton Knight, there were a few
other characters to make note of, like Moses (Mahershal Ali). For the little amount he was present, he provided a
memorable presence. Though everything good or bad that happened to him didn’t
connect with the overall story. He was there to pull on your heart strings, but
it’s a failed attempt. He’s a main character who you don’t get to know, but are
being tricked to think you are. He has a mission, a family, and more than one
reason to live. He has been abused every day of his life, and we’re told, “He
has every reason to be filled with hate,” but he’s never hateful. While being a
great character trait, this information isn’t conveyed by his own action or
words, but by another cast member to create sympathy. Again, it doesn’t work.
Comparing his demise, or trying to use that, to make the audience feel bad
about the grandchild of Newton Knight is ridiculous.
That’s my biggest complaint of the entire film, and erases all
the great performances and lovely shots the film had to offer towards the
beginning. It started out great making you feel this would be another great
Civil War epic with great action, dialogue, and performances. It’s not in the
slightest, but easily could’ve been. The fact that the film is so long, cherry
picks its brutality, continuously halts on a flowing story to tell history
lessons, and then to have the main crux of the film fall on a White man’s
misfortune because he can’t marry who he loves because of the race of his
grandmother, is sad. Comparing that shortcoming to slavery is embarrassing and
offensive.
4/10
Read more reviews by Brandon Keith Avery at Just My Opinion.net.