Lone Star (1996)

A good friend recommended this to me recently, and he was right, its is a very good movie. There are actually multiple interconnected stories going on in this small Texas town. But isn't that the case with all small towns?

Chris Cooper plays a reluctant county sheriff who is haunted by the ghosts of the two previous sheriffs. Not literally a ghost story, but close enough. Elizabeth Peña plays a school teacher who is haunted by the romantic memory of Cooper's character. Kris Kristofferson and Matthew McConaughey play the two former sheriffs who hated each other.

This story is both a murder mystery and a love story. Behind both are parent-child relations. Connecting the two plot lines are eco-political scheming, inter-racial relations, some very submerged rage, and some great lines. The acting is superb and the music is classic tex-mex. Toss in a bit historical reality and you have a very interesting story.

Watch this movie with someone who forgets they have immigrant ancestors.