Watch Lone Star

Lone Star (1996) is a mystery drama that portrays the underlying tensions of a small Texas town coming to the surface when an old murder gets discovered. Directed by John Sayles, the film segues between 1957 and present day in Frontera, a border with a mix of Anglos, Latinos and African-Americans. The present-day Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) gets a call about a 40-year-old skeleton discovered in the Army rifle range, along with a rusted badge belonging to Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), a former Sheriff known for his violent and racist ways. Sam’s father Buddy (Matthew McConaughey) was Wade’s deputy and was promoted to Sheriff after his disappearance.

The murder case forces Sam to face his difficult past with his father who has cast a long shadow on his own life. Since the two men exchanged death threats just before his Buddy’s disappearance, Buddy was always a suspect in Wade’s disappearance. The possibility of murdering Wade has just made Buddy a local hero after the corrupt leadership of Wade, according to his father’s former deputy, Hollis (Clifton James), and the local tavern owner, Mercedes (Miriam Colon). Sam is also reminded of his own difficult relationship with his father, when he becomes reacquainted his high school sweetheart, Pilar (Elizabeth Pena), when her son gets accused of stealing car radios, and Sam lets him go.

When Pilar and Sam were teenagers, his father Buddy made then break up without explanation. Now, they have each been through broken marriages and begin to get to know each other again. At the same time, as Sam investigates the murder case, he begins to believe his father murdered Wade. As Sam’s past and present come together, his understanding of his father begins to deepen. He also begins to change the course of his own life as he is able to finally make peace within himself.