Lone Star with Chris Cooper: DVD Cover
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Lone Star Director: John Sayles Cast: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Joe Morton, Ron Canada

DVD - Wide Screen / Dolby 5.1 / Stereo Learn more

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  • DVD Release Date: 12/21/1999
  • Original Release: 1996
  • Rating: Rated R
  • Sales Rank: 26,191

Viewer Rating: (7 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

Scenes

Features

Interactive menus; Theatrical trailer; Scene access; Languages & subtitles: English, Français

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Side #1 --
0. Scene Selections
1. "Was coronado in the Masons?" (Credits; Mi unico camino). [4:37]
2. Parental cause for concern. [1:21]
3. Eyeball to eyeball: Wade and Deeds. [7:35]
4. Incident at Big O's. [2:48]
5. Culture clashes. [1:44]
6. Jailhouse reunions. [2:52]
7. The crack of walnuts. [1:01]
8. Anatomy of a skinny. [3:54]
9. What Chet sees. [1:10]
10. Helluva time for old business. [2:58]
11. A danger of sliding. [1:38]
12. Otis gets to know his place (Shake, rattle and roll). [6:13]
13. Wouldn't care to say. [2:47]
14. Families and townfolk at odds. [2:25]
15. Questions said, names unsaid. [2:54]
16. The last stand. [3:57]
17. An official visit. [4:45]
18. Somebody named Deeds. [1:32]
19. Wrong caliber. [1:31]
20. A tribute to the old man. [2:45]
21. Sam and Pilar now and then. [3:57]
22. Restless night. [6:32]
23. A helluva sheriff. [1:35]
24. Wrong side of the line. [6:46]
25. Love over 23 years (My love is)?. [4:46]
26. Because you were here (Desde que conosco). [4:31]
27. Not over by a long shot. [2:42]
28. Living proof. [3:55]
29. An idea of what happened. [2:17]
30. Another woman. [3:34]
31. Doing the job in their country. [4:14]
32. Pig in a poke: Bunny. [5:03]
33. An unexpected shrine. [2:55]
34. Mercedes' visitors. [2:21]
35. Fathers and sons. [2:07]
36. In good hands. [1:23]
37. An unsolved mystery [8:23]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Reminiscent of a fine novel in depth and complexity, writer-director John Sayles' acclaimed drama uses the investigation of a 25-year-old murder as the framework for a detailed exploration of life in a Texas border town. The nominal center of the film is Sheriff Sam Deeds (the superb, subtle Chris Cooper), the chief law officer of the town of Frontera. The low-key Sam is also the son of the late Buddy Deeds (played in flashbacks by Matthew McConaughey), who also served as town sheriff and still maintains a legendary status for ousting the vicious, corrupt Charlie Wade (a memorably vicious Kris Kristofferson). The discovery of Wade's decades-old skeleton, however, calls this legend into question, and forces Sam to begin an investigation. During this search for the truth, Sam must come to terms with his own troubled emotions about his father and his still-lingering romantic feelings for Pilar (Elizabeth Peña), a Hispanic woman that Buddy had prevented him from seeing as a young man. Lone Star's scope encompasses not only this story but the whole town, addressing Pilar's difficulties as a schoolteacher, the conflict between incoming immigrants and border patrol officers, and the troubles faced by the African-American commander of the local military base. Sayles expertly moves between past and present, weaving his stories together to illustrate, as in his earlier City of Hope (1991), how the seemingly disparate parts of a community are in fact intimately interconnected. Raising issues of race, politics, and identity, Lone Star nevertheless focuses most of its attention on its complex, believable characters, well-performed by an excellent ensemble cast. One of the most financially successful of Sayles' low-key movies, Lone Star received glowing notices and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Lone Starby Anonymous

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December 11, 2006: This is a movie about borders, or in other words, definitions. It defines and crosses borders and asks us to challenge our assumptions about borders. Sayles wants us to ask ourselves why certain borders/prohibitions/definitions are in place. Do they make sense? Do they appropriately capture the complexity of the situation in Frontera? In the words of bar owner, Otis Payne, “Blood only means what you let it.” So in other words, we as a community are responsible for defining race and family relations. Are the lines of demarcation clear and defined, as the redneck bartender would like to believe? Or are they occasionally random and arbitrary? Sayles urges to explore the borderlands and decide the significance for ourselves. In fact, he blurs the line of time by seamlessly moving forward and backward through time by using pan shots. The passing of time is no longer a barrier to the telling of the story. I think what we actually discover is that life more closely mirrors the philosophy of Otis: “It’s not like there’s a borderline between the good people and the bad. You’re not on only one side or the other.” As Sam struggles to discover if his father was “good” or “bad” and finds his own answer, we too can challenge our preconceptions about race, gender, sex, nationality, and history.

Lone Starby Anonymous

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March 01, 2005: John Sayles is perhaps one of the best pure story tellers working in film today. But his films always tend to be small and quiet, and this one is no exception. The film takes some patience as the various storylines are woven so intricately.

The screenplay was very deservedly nominated for an Oscar, and might have won... were it not up against Fargo which was brilliantly written as well. Were I teaching a class in how to write a cracking good story, this film would be in the syllabus.

Chris Cooper's quiet, typically understated, performance pretty much steals the show, and this film is perhaps his best work. Kristofferson is brilliant in his brief appearrances, all in flashback. And Matthew McConaughey fans will be disappointed as his character has perhaps the least screen time of any of the stories principals. It is not 'stars' who carry this picture, but rather the entire cast.

This film deals with the sometimes sordid under currents that you'd find in any small town and injects the always simmering Tex-Mex border into the middle. I can't recommend this film enough.


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