Let’s get this out of the way right now – the American Civil War was primarily about States’ Rights. That said, the biggest difference between the rights of Southern states in the 1850s and the rights of Northern states in the 1850s was ownership of other people; so don’t go imaging the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, because it was. Most of the soldiers of the Confederacy didn’t own slaves. Most Southerners in general didn’t own slaves. In my mind, that doesn’t make the Civil War any less about slavery, but it should illustrate a potential dichotomy and a philosophical query within the Southern persona. I think most Confederate soldiers when pressed would answer they were fighting for self government which the North was aggressively taking away.
So what do you say to a group of Southern soldiers who don’t want the Confederate government, either? If you‘re fighting for self government, wouldn’t you have a modicum of respect for a concentrated group of locals who don’t acknowledge your imposition of government, either? And with that thought, I present Free State of Jones, a movie about a group of rebels who rebelled from the rebellion. Where does that chain end, anyway? The state of Petoria?
It is 1862 and C.S.A. nurse Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) is no fan of the war. Discovering his teenage “kin” (Jacob Lofland) has been recruited to the effort, he decides the kid has earned a hall pass and tries to get him out of the action and back home – well, that plan is gonna fail; they shoot 
deserters of all ages—sure enough, the Yankees beat ’em to it, claiming the boy’s life before he even has a chance to break for freedom. Newton insists the body needs to be escorted back to Jones County, Mississippi, making him a deserter. When Confederate soldiers come to claim “10% taxes” from a neighbor farm, Newton decides that’s his new fight and before you know it, there’s shooting and hound-stabbing and good clean swamp livin’ with escaped slaves.
Eventually the number of Confederate Army deserters swells, creating a need for supplies; man does not live on swampfish alone. Hence, in an effort to take back Jones County for the residents, a dissident movement is born. Free State of Jones let us know right off the top the movie chronicles accounts from 1862-1876 (the Civil War ended in 1865). However, it also drew a strange parallel with a more modern courtroom case decades later about a direct descendant of Knight jailed for coupling with a white woman.
[I swear this film could have been titled “Generations of the F***ed Up Mississippi.” I now have to explain this, don’t I? Newton was certainly the white Knight of Jones County; but in living in the swamp, he attracted a former slave named Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whose name ironically sounds like something you’d find in a swamp). She may or may not have coupled with him after the war. Thus, a great grandson of Newton’s could prove to be 1/8th black, thus violating Mississippi’s miscegenation laws of the mid-20th century. Ugh.]
Honestly, I think Free State’s biggest problem is scope. In telling the story of rebel’s rebels, Free State needed to touch upon economic, legal, munition, practicality, and race issues. There are powerful scenes of conflict among the blacks and whites who live in the swamp – even among outlaws, there is inequality. When the war ended, that should have been the end of the tale, either Jones lives as a Free State or it dies — But in touching upon race relations, Free State insisted it needed to describe
them post war as well, and then remind us periodically that it still sucks a century later. This material was meant for television in which the drama could unfold methodically without seeming tacked on. What happens is the film starts describing the Ku Klux Klan, which didn’t exist until the war ended, and, let’s face it, you can’t just say, “then the Klan showed up. The End.” And this, of course, is only one of a handful of issues in post-war Jones County.
I liked Free State. I liked it despite escaped slaves only showing up when convenient. I liked it despite the borderline caricature portrayals. It isn’t Mahershala Ali’s fault the movie only needed him around to illustrate something about Newton’s character. And I liked it despite the unwieldy cries of “rich man’s war, poor man’s fight.” The last part is a damn shame, because the South still has this problem, given how many not-so-well-to-do white male Southern supporters Donald Trump has. This is, however, a story worth telling, and despite how much one might cringe at the presentation, there is, perhaps, little more Southern –to my mind at least- than a county so independent and rebellious it would take up arms against rebels.
Living off the swamp all sticked and stoned
Deserters self-rule? They got all Jonesed
Who need the Yanks
Or crude army tanks?
Gen. Lee, Confederates — y’all been pwned
Rated R, 139 Minutes
D: Gary Ross
W: Leonard Hartman, Gary Ross
Genre: Making sure the South never forgets what horrible, horrible people they are
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Single-minded historians
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Conservative Southerners
