Free State of Jones

""Free State of Jones" is one of those historical dramas with a script that's big on crowning lines of moral fervour and not so big on nuts-and-bolts detail."

"Impeccably wrought yet emotionally hollow, Gary Ross's Civil War-era rebellion drama suffers from too much ambition."

"A riveting visual history lesson, whose occasional didacticism is integral to its power."

"The Free State of Jones is an anti-war film with a commie message that still glamourises southern pride, hard work and the Good Book. It's a nuanced message far too rare in our current political state."

"You really feel like this is a location where life is nasty, brutish, short and breathless."

"If you think a thick, juicy slab of Civil War history can't be boiled down to 145 minutes of speechifying, stultifying cinema, then grab a seat. Even McConaughey is sucked dry of his usual acting panache."

"If McConaughey's performance is a little too jut-jawed and noble, the script has plenty of force."

"A compelling and little-known story of the Civil War period is studiously reduced to a dry and cautious history lesson."