sddavis63 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)

wittmann_todd I have friend in Utah who is a direct descendant of Newton Knight and my friend contributed directly to some of the character of Newton Knight as a result of my friend's ancestry research. Until recently there has been a coddling of the confederate era as a noble cause to assert state's rights. There have been statues of confederate soldiers and "heroes". Historical markers throughout the south emulating the southern sacrifice. This movie touches a nerve that many confederate sympathizers fail to admit. The southern rebellion was simply about money...and the rich plantation owners...to the sacrifice of human rights and the common white man who fought the battles whilst the plantation owners and their family was exempted for military service. This is a point where the epic war movie, "Gettysburg" failed to address. "Gettysburg" was defending both philosophical sides, therefore, avoiding controversy and making everyone a hero. Newton Knight saw the war as what it was really about...the rich plantation owners. And it was this hypocrisy for which he rebelled against. I would have given a "10", however, the movie became a little too preachy towards the end as it portrayed the Free State of Jones a Union State. There has been no evidence that Newton Knight created a Union State within the confederacy. Newton Knight created an independent state from the Confederacy and the Union. I am sorry this movie lost tens of millions of dollars at the box office. It did not deserve a loss. This was the fault of STX Entertainment which was obsessed with being a big screen competitor with the big boys. When STX started bullying its way around Hollywood to be a main player, I am sure (unsubstantiated) the competitors did whatever they could to make sure STX did not interfere with the status quo. Otherwise, I just plain could not see why this movie was not a success at the box office.

Troy Hoch "Free State of Jones" only survives by Matthew McConaughey's terrific lead performance. There is too much packed into the film for it to concentrate. Director Gary Ross fumbles here, as the film is too low on historical accuracy for what it's trying to tell. One positive from it is that the acting performances are actually strong, but the script's consistency does not help them at all. But, an aspect that continued to annoy me throughout the film were quick cuts from one scene to another, like Ross's slow pace suddenly became too quickened. Often, when one scene did not feel complete, it's cut to a different time of day with usually a different setting. The film itself is a failed opportunity for a little-known story that definitely could have been better capitalized on. Overall, "Free State of Jones" is a sloppy historical telling that quite frankly deserved to be condemned by most critics.

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning As the American civil war draws to a close, Commander Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) defects from the Confederacy, his soul and spirit battered by the horrors and atrocities he has witnessed, fighting for a cause he doesn't believe in and has no stake in. He returns home to his family a broken man, but finds salvation by heading out and joining a group of freed slaves, headed by the charismatic Moses (Mahershala Ali) who are fighting for their rights, and they rise up and form an army against their oppressors, while Newton has an affair with Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw.) Eighty five years later, their grandchild sits in a courtroom battling his right to marry a white woman in the State of Louisiana...In a time where various film academies are being cajoled into recognising the talent of black performers more than they have, and black rights activists are using historical injustices to highlight present culture (the recent Detroit being probably the most brazen example!), a film like Free State of Jones finds a nice little bubble to fall comfortably in to. But, unlike much of the hysterical, exaggerated hand wringing and hyperbole that has surfaced in the midst of it all, Gary Ross has crafted a smooth, subtle, balanced piece, that avoids sensationalism and paints a genuinely rattling, highly absorbing film, that covers every inch of the ground it explores, and keeps you engrossed until the end.Performances wise, in the lead role, McConaughey is probably better than he has ever been, carrying the film superbly and delivering a broader range as an actor than he ever has before. He portrays a man who discovers his own character and is unable to let it go, at a time in American history where most others are blindly following along like sheep. But he still has an amazing supporting cast, most notably Ali as Moses, a man who has suffered tremendous indignity, but refuses to let go of his own dignity, as he goes on his noble quest, only to be met with an emotionally shattering conclusion. The performances and the writing are both perfectly balanced, and they compliment each other just fine.At a time when diversity is taking an arguably more aggressive means of instilling itself, here's a project that has the integrity to stand on it's own. How surprising, then, that it got such less attention. ****