Click here to copy URL

Free State of Jones

2016

Gary Ross

Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali ...

6.4

9,460

Action. War. Drama Set during the Civil War, THE FREE STATE OF JONES tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newton Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Opposed to both slavery and secession, Knight launched an uprising of poor white farmers that led Jones County, Mississippi to itself secede from the Confederacy, creating a "Free State of Jones." His relationship and post-war marriage to a former slave, Rachel ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"A Civil War drama written and directed with more doggedness than excitement by Gary Ross."	NEU
United States	Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"This is no history lesson, but it’s mainstream Hollywood entertainment that respects the history and seems to invite discussion and debate (...) Rating: ★★★1/4 (out of four)"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Like the worst civics lesson, this movie bores away at you till your reactions are dulled. (...) Rating: ★ (out of four)"	NEG
United States	Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"The film is absorbing at first (...) But just as the film seems like it's about to really click (...) it looses momentum midstream and ultimately becomes didactic in its (...) final act."	NEU
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"A riveting visual history lesson, whose occasional didacticism is integral to its power."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"Civil War Story Has No Guts, No ‘Glory’. Gary Ross' Newton Knight biopic can't decide if it wants to be a Civil War epic or a history lesson."	NEG
United States	Robert Abele The Wrap	"That you may learn a good deal about an unusually driven man, but never quite feel emotionally connected to him, means Ross has hit a workmanlike middle, crafting a handsome textbook more than a blood-pumping portrait."	NEU
United States	Mick LaSalle SFGATE	"An ambitious and powerful story (...) until something better comes along, this is the movie’s most comprehensive and honest portrait of a pivotal and misunderstood period of American history"	POS
United Kingdom	Tim Grierson Screendaily	"More history lesson than compelling narrative, 'Free State of Jones' could be taught to future film students as an example of what can happen when honorable intentions outpace vision or execution."	NEU
United States	Joe McGovern Entertainment Weekly	"The movie lacks brio. Ross (...) confuses noble, cornball sermonizing for art."	NEU

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.