Independent writer/director John Sayles ("City of Hope," "Passion Fish") has fashioned an incrediblydiverse, complex, and intriguing film that explores a multitude of subjects, enough to fill at least fourlesser films. Any one of his subplots feels strong enough to stand on its own, yet Sayles pares themdown enough so they all fit together harmoniously. In the short span of two hours and ten minutes, hesuccessfully weaves a tangled web containing the tale of a forty-year-old murder mystery and severalgenerational stories of fathers and sons and mothers and daughters, all of which explore the penetratingsubject matter of race relations on the Texas/Mexico border, redemption, hypocrisy, and the nature ofbroken relationships.

Sayles has always been a master of immersing his films in their time and place. Here he does no lessthan his best work, making a small town into an intimate microcosm of the troubled borderland, withits conflicting cultures, languages, and historical perspectives. Sayles sets the tone early during a schoolboard meeting, where the minority Anglos complain bitterly about a Hispanic teacher named Pilar Cruz(Elizabeth Pena) and her choice to teach about the Mexican-American war from both sides. "We won,we get bragging rights," says one white man.

However, this "Anglo is better than Hispanic" mentality is not reserved only for the whites. MercedesCruz (Miriam Colon), a successful Mexican restaurant owner and Pilar's mother, is vigorouslypro-American. She has spent the past forty years trying to forget her Mexican culture, and when herHispanic cooks and dishwashers speak to each other in Spanish, she barks at them, "In English, please!We are in the U.S." And when she sees a young couple sneak across the border, she quickly goes insideand calls the Border Patrol instead of sympathizing with their plight.

But Sayles does not contain his observations on race relations only to Hispanics and Anglos. The mostmisplaced group in town is a small minority of blacks, who find that the only place they feelcomfortable at is a bar owned by Otis Payne (Ron Canada). Otis, a wily old man who was once a muchmore wily young man, had a son named Delmore who he never fathered. Delmore (Joe Morton), now asuccessful and straight-laced Army Colonel who holds horribly bitter feelings toward Otis, has movedback into town with his wife and son to work during the remaining three years before the local Armybase is closed down. The scenes between Delmore and Otis speak volumes about the current rash offatherlessness in America, but it also poises the possibility of redemption for anyone.

Looming over all these proceedings is the mystery of the skeleton in the desert. Early on we learn thatthe skeleton belongs to Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), a crooked, murderous sheriff from the late50's who skipped town with $10,000 of the city's funds and was never heard from again. The mysteryis who killed him, and Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) think it may have been his father, a localpolice legend named Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey). Most everybody in town loved Buddy,because he was willing to stand up to Charlie Wade, which is the primary reason Sam thinks he killedhim. Sam knows that Hollis Pogue (Clifton James), a former deputy of Charlie's and now city mayor,knows something about the last night Charlie was seen alive, but Hollis won't say a word.

The first thirty minutes of "Lone Star" are somewhat perplexing because Sayles introduces us tocharacter after character, some in the present, some in flashbacks, some in both. He doesn't have a veryexciting directorial style, so it takes some time to get involved in the plot. For a while, you have thefeeling that there is no way all this characters can be related, but they are. And those relationships arenot strained contrivances.

By the last third of the film, Sayles begins to pull all the threads together, revealing secrets and tying uploose ends. And, even when you thinks he's done, he springs a few more on you when you're notexpecting it. When the film has ended, he has answered questions that have been confounding you sincethe film started and even answered some questions you never thought to ask. But, true to his nature, heleaves just enough open to interpretation, because Sayles is wise enough to know that in a disconcertedland like the border region, not all questions have immediate answers.

©1997 James Kendrick