Absolutely loved this film . I know there is some inaccuracies as there is with Hollywood movies but what it has done for me , is it has made me look more into this period . I can't believe the professional critics views on this movie . Of all the movies about this period that have been made this is by far my best . Matthew is great when he's in the more darker roles

Let's start with my usual caveat - writer/director. And then I sigh.It's not a bad movie but it wanders, it's a little confusing with its time jumps and it's overly long. 139 minutes? Yep. So maybe even with its 139 minutes it couldn't fit in the whole story but it's a MOVIE, not a documentary. And as a movie it has a lot of fat that could be shed. Writer/director syndrome :-( It does tell a harrowing tale, and of an area of American history which Southern Americans seem keen to suppress so it hits the 'worthy' button right on the nose.The direction is good and the actors superb, even if Matthew McConaughey (who I adore) often plays himself. Brilliant support from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, too.American history and civil war aficionados will want to see it, and it may tickle the fancy of western buffs, too, although probably not as much.

Great story and great acting. This movie shows the civil war from an angle that I have not seen in any other movie.

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. ****