'Free State of Jones' is powerful but lacks nuance
In 鈥淔ree State of Jones,鈥� Matthew McConaughey plays the real-life figure聽Newton Knight, a Mississippi farmer who聽enlisted a group of renegade聽slaves and white Southerners for聽a rebellion against the Confederacy. It鈥檚 a聽powerful story but, as written and directed by Gary Ross, it has a by-the-books straightforwardness that sacrifices nuance for homiletics.聽
Newton is聽valiant from the get-go when, as a medic in the Confederate Army, he聽witnesses the death of a young boy he befriended and goes rogue. Nothing聽really roils his sense of mission. McConaughey is convincing as far as the聽role allows him to go, which, in psychological terms, isn鈥檛 all that far.
In supporting roles, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel, the equally valiant聽house slave Newton makes his common-law wife, and Mahershala Ali as聽Moses, the leader of the renegade slaves, provide some powerful聽moments. Grade:聽B- (Rated R for brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images.)
