‘The Free State of Jones’ is a terrific story you’ve never heard of

“Free State of Jones” is a very good movie about a Civil War incident most people probably have never heard of.

I’m a major civil war buff and I had never heard about this incident before the film. It is true. I went back after seeing this film and researched the events.

It’s a very, very solid, well-done, thought-provoking movie. The film is scrupulous in its historical accuracy.

What we know about Newton Knight, the main character of the movie, is he was the grandson of a land and slave owner in the south. According to his biographers, he was anti-slavery.

Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey, enlisted in the Confederate army but deserted, was arrested, and eventually, deserted again.

Knight joined up with escaped slaves and other deserters to create the Knight Company, a band of Confederate army deserters that turned against the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The period recreation in the movie is superb. They’re accurate. They’re spot on.

It’s uncanny how much McConaughey looks like the real Newton Knight.

Again, this is a very good movie; it aspires to be a great movie. However, it doesn’t make it to “great” because the movie doesn’t pretend to have more certainty about the true nature of Newton knight or what he was or why he did what he did than historians do.

I understand what “Free State of Jones” director Gary Ross is trying to do, but it’s very tough.

The movie is a little too long at 2.5 hours. It needs more editing.

McConaughey is terrific though. It’s not McConaughey doing some Confederate hero. He becomes a 19th Century man as much as any actor can. He could be looking at another Oscar nomination.

I give this movie three our of five stars.

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