In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I saw it many years ago but so many of the scenes still resonate with me. Most of all I remember the stunning finale with Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Peña. Chris Cooper deserved an Oscar for that scene alone, it was so powerful yet so sensitive. Great acting of the kind you see so rarely in films these days.

Dear Roger Ebert, I am surprised you recommended Lone Star as one of the best films of 1996. I don't see why some of the reviewers are raving about the film. It did deal with some interesting themes like race relations in a multi-cultural town, patriotism, American history as a battleground between races and how the characters are all prisoners of their shared history. While the film is known as a murder mystery, it is more like a study of race relations in the backdrop of the murder mystery. The sub plots and the characters receive as much space as the murder mystery. But the sub plots were quite unimaginative. There were too many characters, most of whom were uninteresting. I also cannot say much about Josh Sayles style. The truth is that he lacks any sort of visual style. I guess he is a filmmaker with something to say about the state of his country and not someone who simply makes genre films. But it really did not work for me. I found the whole film to be quite dull and the performances to be mostly uninspired. Best Regards, Pimpin. (5/10)

If anything I found this one a little too complex; there were several threads that seemed totally unrelated to the main thrust of the story. It's also, I felt, a little too long; the filmmakers are asking quite a lot for an audience to concentrate for two hours and fifteen minutes. It is slow paced, but I didn't particularly mind that; I'm used to the noir style and it is usually quite a slow burner. Some great performances with Chris Cooper coping well with the leading role and Kris Kristofferson playing the villain of the peace with gusto. Also we have Elizabeth Peña, who did an excellent job as the female lead and a small part for Matthew McConaughey as Buddy Deeds. Although it does have its problems I still found it an excellent watch; definitely one to look out for for all you noir fans out there.SteelMonster's verdict: RECOMMENDEDMy score: 7.5/10.You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.

I know I'm in the vast minority here, but I wasn't too impressed with this film. I think the problem was that too many of the subplots seemed incongruous, and frankly, uninteresting. I would have preferred it if the movie stuck to Chris Cooper's character. I was also expecting more Michael "Mchonohay", maybe if the film had been 1 half set in the present with the Sheriff and then the other half set in the past. Instead we get a bunch of stories about different people of the town that is meant to represent some sort of portrait of America, but they don't interlock the way 'Crash', 'Babel', 'Nashville', or other films do. It's a film trying to be ensemble when it doesn't need to. It probably would have worked better as a TV show, as too many of the loose threads lack that satisfying cohesiveness that a film should offer.The relationship between Sam and Pilar is also quite strange, and by the end, rather off-putting. In addition, the revelation about their past seems completely out of left field and of no relation to the central aspect of the story... or maybe it does in a weird sort of way. Either way, I feel that Sayles script is a little too 1990s PC for my tastes. Much of the moralizing between the characters (save for one brilliant scene outside a Mexican gas station) feels like something out of Schoolhouse Rock.Additionally, I thought the 'who-dunnit' murder plot was rather straightforward. Seeing Kristofferson's evil was entertaining, but I would have expected a bigger reveal or a more interesting resolution to his story.Maybe I was just let down by all the hype. I gave it a 6/10. I definitely would have felt as if I wasted my time if I'd paid money to see it.