Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer  �  French Soundtrack

FILM
This was one of my favorite films from 1996 and I am so glad that Warner Bros. released this on DVD. The are not many people out there that make films like John Sayles. He writes directs and edits everything himself. His films are usually pretty low budget, but they usually have actors you recognize. They may not be big stars, but they always bring his characters out in extremely interesting ways.

This film takes place in a small town on in Texas near the Mexican border. Chris Cooper plays the current sheriff (Sam Deeds) who has to start investigating a 30 year old murder when the body of the town's former, shit kicker sheriff (Kris Kristofferson) shows up on an old military rifle range. Cooper's dad, Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey), was the sheriff who took over after Kristofferson's disappearance and Cooper immediately suspects his father.

What I love about this movie is that the murder mystery is really just a chance for us to meet everyone in town. We slowly find out how interconnected everyone is in town and how those people have lived with secrets for the last 30 years.

Among the people we meet are Pilar Cruz (Elizabeth Pena), Sam's high school sweetheart, Mercedes Cruz (Miriam Colon), Pilar's mother and local restaurant owner, Otis Payne (Ron Canada), the owner of the only black bar in town and Delmore Payne (Joe Morton), Otis' son who has just taken over command of the local military base and who has not seen his father in 30 years.

Sayles is a master at putting together ensemble casts and Lone Star is no exception. Even the smallest parts seem extremely detailed. A few things to look for are Matthew McConaughey's scene early in the movie. The scene is only a couple minutes long, but his presence is felt in the rest of the film because of how strong he is in this scene. Frances McDormand has an absolutely hilarious scene as Chris Cooper's ex-wife, and my absolute favorite part of this movie is the flashbacks. They merge directly for the current scene without a cut and really make the audience realize how important these past events have been in the lives of the characters who are reliving them. 

VIDEO
Better than the Heat DVD, not as good as it should be. Digital artifacts occasionally creep into the picture and blacks are washed out in a few scenes. Not bad, but it should be better.

AUDIO
A 5.1 remix was not done for this film, but it really isn't a surround effects film so it is not really a weakness. Dialogue is clear an all sound effects are nicely reproduced.

EXTRAS
Warner Bros. shorts us again.

SUMMARY
I cannot imagine anyone not liking this film. It is so well done and has such a detailed set of characters that everyone will find something that they like.