The Free State Of Jones tells the tale of Newton Knight a farmer from Mississippi who was at least a century ahead of his times in terms of economics and human rights. After the battle of Corinth he learns that if one is rich enough to own slaves one is exempt from the fight because in this struggle for the rights of one to own another you have to leave some people behind lest the "property" start getting ideas.
The phrase "rich man's war,poor man's fight" never had more meaning than in the situation Knight finds himself in. He just walks away from the Confederate army and before long he's heading a movement back home seceding from the seceding Confederacy. Jones County opts for its own independence.
As played by Matthew McConaughey we see Knight certainly a person of humble circumstances who like Abraham Lincoln is a man who recognizes some great moral issues. McConaughey is humble and modest, but overwhelming in his portrayal. This film might get him a trip to the Oscars.
The two women in his life wife Keri Russell and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the former slave who develops a relationship with McConaughey are also quite moving in their portrayal. Interracial relationships put McConaughey way ahead of his time. There is a modern story of one of his descendants unable to marry because of Mississippi's miscegenation laws post World War II. I'm not sure it was necessary for this film it kind of interrupted the flow of the main plot. In any event it probably deserved its own film.
Down the cast list there is a very moving performance by young Jacob Lofland in the beginning of the film as a young Confederate soldier who with McConaughey also realizes what business has he in a fight to protect some plantation owner's right to have slaves. You won't forget it if you see Free State Of Jones.
And you should see it.
