i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Absolutely loved this film . I know there is some inaccuracies as there is with Hollywood movies but what it has done for me , is it has made me look more into this period . I can't believe the professional critics views on this movie . Of all the movies about this period that have been made this is by far my best . Matthew is great when he's in the more darker roles

My first reaction to this movie is that I really appreciate a movie that actually teaches me something. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about the US Civil War and the history of slavery and reconstruction - but I have to confess that this movie was my first introduction to the story of Mississippi farmer Newton Knight and his rebellion against the Confederacy. And it is a fascinating story. The movie seems from what I've read since watching it to be reasonably faithful to the real story of Newton Knight. A few things are embellished or glossed over and some composite characters are created - but the movie seems to offer a reasonable feel for the man and what he experienced and accomplished. For that reason alone, I'd say its well worth watching.It's also worth watching for the performance from Matthew McConaughey as Newton. I'm not a huge fan of McConaughey. But I thought he did a superb job with this role. Again, he made the character seem real. It was a gritty performance, as opposed to the general "smoothness" that often seems to accompany the characters he plays - and that often grates on me for some reason. There were other good performances in the movie - in fact, it would be hard to identify a bad performance - but McConaughey really carried this, and did well doing so.Knight came across as a complex man. His motivations weren't entirely clear. The movie does, however, make an incredibly valid historical point - poor farmers were being asked to fight for rich plantation owners. The "20 slave rule" was highlighted (if you owned 20 slaves you were exempt from Confederate military service - and for every 20 more you owned, your sons from oldest down were exempted.) In Jones County, where the events took place, this was a huge issue, as it had the smallest slave population of any MIssissippi county. Confederate raids on poor southern farms - taking wheat, hogs and pretty much anything else of value - was also shown as a sore point to many southerners and led to the rebellion. I wasn't clear on Knight's attachment to the Union. At first he told his followers (both poor whites and escaped slaves) that they weren't fighting for the Union, they were just fighting against the Confederacy. Then, suddenly, he's hoisting the stars and stripes over the Jones County courthouse. When the Union became the cause was unclear to me. Knight's personal life was even more complex. Married to a Serena - a white woman (played by Keri Russell) - and the father of her child, after they separate he takes up with Rachel - a black woman, and becomes the father of several of her children. Then Serena returns, and the three of them did co-habit apparently for many years. Knight and his group were ostracized after the War because of the bi-racial nature of their community and there was apparently a lot of intermarriage. This becomes the focus of a bit of side story revolving around Davis Knight -Newton's great-grandson. His story is interspersed throughout. He married his white sweetheart, but was considered black under Mississippi miscengenation laws and was arrested and put on trial because of the marriage. The movie circles back to Davis's story from time to time to show us how that worked out - and it was a reminder that the Civil War wasn't the end of America's racial problems.I really enjoyed "Free State of Jones." It's not a non-stop action type of movie. Instead, it does spend a fair bit of time exploring Knight's character and motivation and the racial issues involved. And it is a good introduction to a story that isn't very well known. (7/10)

An ex-Confederate organizes a rebellion in southeastern Mississippi during the American Civil War and continues to battle for equal rights for freedmen during Reconstruction in Free State of Jones (2016), written and directed by Gary Ross. The film alternates between the 1860s and a 1948 miscegenation trial, to the detriment of both. Free State of Jones bombed at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics.The film begins at the Battle of Corinth in northeastern Mississippi, October 3-4, 1862, in which Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn attempted to dislodge Union forces commanded by Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans from fortifications around the town of Corinth. Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) is a medical orderly in the Confederate army from Jones County, a predominantly poor area with few slaves.Knight is disgruntled to learn of a Confederate law that allows sons of plantation owners to avoid military service depending on the number of slaves his family owns. This was designed to guard against slave uprisings, but it angered some poor whites who believed they were fighting a "rich man's war". When Knight returns the body of his nephew Daniel (Jacob Lofland) to his home county, he learns that Confederate Captain Elias Hood (Thomas Francis Murphy) is excessively confiscating goods from the local population.Things get complicated when Knight meets and falls in love with a slave, Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), despite being married to Serena (Keri Russell). He fights back against the tax collectors and hides out in the swamp, where he meets fugitive slaves and befriends Moses (Mahershala Ali). Together with other deserters, they successfully rebel against the Confederacy and proclaim a Free State of Jones. After the war, freed slaves struggle against a segregationist South.The events of the Civil War era and after are interwoven with the 1948 miscegenation trial of one of Knight's decendants, Davis Knight (Brian Lee Franklin), a product of his affair with Rachel. The Mississippi Supreme Court eventually overturned Davis' conviction, but this postscript to the story seems out of place in the larger narrative. It would have been better to briefly show the trial as an epilogue, or have the whole film about the trial with flashbacks to the events of the 1860s. Instead, Free State of Jones feels like two films awkwardly smashed together.Still, Free State of Jones features some solid performances. Matthew McConaughey needs no introduction. He transformed himself from teen heartthrob to accomplished actor, starring in films like Dallas Buyers Club (2013) and TV shows like True Detective. In 2016, he also played the lead role in Gold. McConaughey performed admirably in Free State of Jones, although his transition from combat orderly to brilliant guerrilla leader is less than convincing.Mahershala Ali, an African American actor from California, has appeared steadily in film and television since the early 2000s, most notably as Boggs in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay parts one and two. Though forced to play second fiddle to McConaughey in Free State of Jones, Ali brings to life his fictional character and personifies the plight of politically active freedmen following the Civil War.Free State of Jones is not a strict retelling of history, but it remains faithful to events writer/director Gary Ross wanted to portray. Much of Newton Knight's complicated personal life was simplified for the screen, and the scene depicting a handful of Confederates attacking a Union position while Knight and his nephew try to flee was unrealistic. This and other inaccuracies are relatively minor.It's a shame this film fell flat, because the American Civil War is such a rich period of history with so many compelling stories to tell. For some reason it's been difficult for Hollywood to get it right. Glory (1989), which won three academy awards, shows it's possible to create a compelling and popular drama set during the Civil War. Free State of Jones unfortunately missed the mark.

Why was this film over looked? I had never heard of it until I came across a radio interview with Matthew Mcconaughey where he expressed his disappointment at the coming and going of this movie without much of a peep. I, for one, and in total agreement. It is a travesty.The acting across the board is superb, the pacing is good (often a bug bear of mine with many films being 20 mins too long) the story is gripping. I can imagine it was difficult to fit so much into a reasonable length of time but the Director/Editor achieved it.The violence is necessary but yet not gratuitous. The cinematography is spot on with a real authentic feel and the attention to detail seemed to me extremely high. A lot of work went into this movie and I hope that it finds it's audience through (legitmate) streaming services. I am very glad it was suggested to me when I logged in and glad I spent this evening viewing it.Spread the word!