ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996                TAG: 9607290020
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

`STAR' SHINES TEXAS MURDER MYSTERY IS JOHN SAYLES' BEST

At heart, "Lone Star" is a mystery that could be roughly described as John Sayles' version of Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil."

Both are set in border towns; both are about corrupt cops, and both show corruption on political and personal levels. But that comparison can only be taken so far. Writer-director-editor Sayles doesn't try to imitate Welles' flashy noir style. His visual flourishes are used to shift time and point of view as the film moves back and forth among generations.

Though Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is sheriff of Rio County, Texas, he works in the shadow of his father Buddy (Matthew McConaughey). "Sheriff Deeds is dead," an old woman tells him, "you're Sheriff Junior." Buddy became a legend when, as a deputy in the 1950s, he faced down his crooked boss, Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson).

Wade disappeared right after that famous confrontation. Everyone has assumed that he embezzled $10,000 in public funds and ran away. Then in the film's present, two soldiers find a skeleton and a badge at an abandoned Army rifle range. The newly arrived base commander, Col. Payne (Joe Morton), has problems of his own, both professional and family.

As Sam investigates the unidentified remains, it becomes obvious that he's not completely objective either. He's never gotten over his high school romance with Pilar (Elizabeth Pena), now a teacher with a teen-age son of her own. And what if Sam turns up something that tarnishes the golden reputation of his father? Maybe that's exactly what he wants to find.

In technical terms, this is one of Sayles' most ambitious works. He's telling a complex story with a large cast and three distinct time periods. He shifts among them with such fluid transitions that the action is never confusing. Seasoned mystery fans will catch one early moment where he tips his hand, but that's an inconsequential flaw.

Sayles is more interested in complex, flawed characters, and the society they've made for themselves. As one of them says, "It's not like there's a borderline between good people and bad people. You're not one or the other." Those characters are caught up in tangled relationships between past and present, fathers and sons and among black, white, Mexican, Indian and various multiracial combinations.

"Lone Star" is John Sayles at top form, and that's about the best recommendation a film can get these days.

Lone Star

HHHH

A Sony Classics release playing at The Grandin Theatre. 133 minutes. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual content.

LENGTH: Medium:   59 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Sheriff Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey, left) 
          challenges Charley Wade (Kris Kristofferson) in `Lone Star.'