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Review

Lone Star, possibly Sayles' best film to date, is a brilliantly conceived, gripping mystery-thriller with so many simmering emotions under its surface that it's in constant threat of either self-destructing or losing its way. Thankfully, it does neither. Cooper plays Sam Deeds, a low-keyed sheriff in a small Texas town investigating some skeletal remains and a lawman's rusty badge found in the desert. The son of Buddy Deeds, a much-revered sheriff, Sam believes his father (played in flashbacks by McConaughey) may have had something to do with the findings. He soon discovers that the more digging he does, the more skeletons he finds. Moving fluidly from the past to the present, Lone Star is a compelling, quietly powerful work that stays with you long after its stunning but daringly conceived secret is revealed. This is stirring stuff from a filmmaker who would have it no other way.