Following the discovery of human remains in the desert surrounding a windswept Texas town near the Mexican border, Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is drawn into investigating a forty-year-old disappearance, that of Charlie Wade, the town’s corrupt and brutal former sheriff, who vanished in mysterious circumstances. While his line of inquiry leads to the rekindling of a romance with local teacher Pilar (Elizabeth Peña), his high-school sweetheart, Sam also begins to learn more about his father, the legendary Buddy Deeds, who replaced Charlie Wade. One of the very finest films in the storied career of the great American independent filmmaker John Sayles, Lone Star, which boasts a supporting cast that includes Matthew McConaughey and Kris Kristofferson, stands as one of the best American independent films of the 1990s.

Notes by David O’Mahony