History Film / LoneStar

** A tragic one [[spoiler: when lovestruck teenage lovers Sam and Pilar discover the reason their parents, Buddy and Mercedes, wanted to keep them apart wasn't because their parents were heartless racists, but because Buddy and Mercedes had an affair which resulted in Pilar's birth... making Sam and Pilar half-brother/sister.]]

* SurpriseIncest: [[spoiler: Star crossed lovers Sam and Pilar are revealed to be half-siblings; they shared the same father. By the time they find this out, they will have already consummated their relationship and still stay together after the revelation.]]

* SpicyLatina: Pilar invokes this when discussing another teacher's interest in her. He's a white man who apparently goes for "hot blooded latinas," which is a stereotype Pilar apparently does not believe in.

** His father Buddy Deeds had a reputation for making deals ("trading favors") with the locals but was otherwise an HonestCop who treated prisoners fairly and kept the peace.

In the 1950's, Rio County suffered under the brutal rule of Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), an amoral lawman who terrorized the county profiting from protection rackets, smuggling, and wholesale murder when it suited him. Wade was especially fond of preying on powerless blacks and hispanics, either sending them to "the farm," or killing them in cold blood with impunity. When Deputy Buddy Deeds (Creator/MatthewMcConaughey) arrives in town after a tour in the Korean War, he openly confronts the Sheriff, brazenly warning him to get out of town before he ended up "dead, or in jail." The next day, Wade disappears along with $10,000 in county funds, and Rio County sees decades of peace and prosperity under Sheriff Buddy Deed's watch.

-> '''Sam:''' "Do you have any idea who might have put him there? Other than my father."

-> '''Hollis:''' There's no cause for that. Wade made himself a pile of enemies over the years."

-> '''Sam:''' "And Buddy was one of them. You know, people have this whole deal built up around my father. If it's built on a crime, I think they should know. I can understand why you'd want to think he couldn't do it."

-> '''Hollis:''' "And I understand why you'd want to think he could."

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lonestar.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Start diggin' holes in this county, no telling ''what'' will come up.]]

Lone Star, directed by Creator/JohnSayles, is a modern-day western that examines the relationship between past and present, morality and righteousness, and the difference between myth and reality all while tackling the issues of race, gender, social class, police brutality, international relations, and historical revisionism.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The movie tracks the corrosive history of racism through a small Texas town on the Mexican border, and highlights how complicated humanity can get.
-->'''Otis''' (talking to [[spoiler:his grandson]]): Blood only means what you let it.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Delmore Payne brought about [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the robot apocalypse.]]

* HeyItsThatGuy: Delmore Payne brought about [[{{Film/Terminator2}} the robot apocalypse.]]

In the 1950's, Rio County suffered under the brutal rule of Sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), an amoral lawman who terrorized the county profiting from protection rackets, smuggling, and wholesale murder when it suited him. Wade was especially fond of preying on powerless blacks and hispanics, either sending them to "the farm," or killing them in cold blood with impunity. When Deputy Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey) arrives in town after a tour in the Korean War, he openly confronts the Sheriff, brazenly warning him to get out of town before he ended up "dead, or in jail." The next day, Wade disappears along with $10,000 in county funds, and Rio County sees decades of peace and prosperity under Sheriff Buddy Deed's watch.

When a rusted sheriff's badge is discovered near the above-mentioned skeleton, evidence mounts that Charlie Wade didn't go peacefully into the night. Buddy's son Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper), now Sheriff of Rio County 40 some years later, investigates and suspects that his father just might not have been the hero that everybody remembers him to be...

[[caption-width-right:350:Start diggin' holes in this county, no telling ''what'' will turn up.]]

-> '''Sam:''' "Do you have any idea who could have put him there? Other than my father."

---> '''Buddy Deeds:''' You ever shoot a man who was lookin' you in the eye, Charlie? Whole different story. Now? Or later? You won't have any trouble finding me.

---> '''Sam Deeds:''' Did he ever accept money for a favor?
---> '''Otis Payne:''' '''(pausing)'' I don't recall a prisoner ever died in your daddy's custody. I don't recall a soul in this county; black, white or Mexican, who'd hesitate for a minute to call on Buddy Deeds to solve a problem. More than that, I wouldn't care to say.

---> '''Ben Wetzel:''' I remember once, Charlie Wade come to my daddy's hardware store. I was just a little boy. And I heard stories about how he shot this'un and how he shot that'un. The man winked at me, I peed my pants. He just ''winked'' at me.

** [[spoiler: Charlie Wade was indeed shot in the back by one of his deputies, but it was the seemingly spineless Deputy Hollis that did it to keep Wade from shooting Otis in the back in cold blood. Buddy arrived just in time to see it happen, then to protect Hollis and Otis helped them bury the body in the desert. To make Wade's disappearance seem more credible, Buddy took $10,000 from the county safe and gave it to Mercedes to help the struggling widow after Wade murdered her husband.]]

---> '''Otis Payne:''' I don't recall a prisoner ever dying in your daddy's custody. I don't recall a soul in this county, black, white or Mexican, who'd hesitate for a minute to call on Buddy Deeds to solve a problem. More than that, I wouldn't care to say.

---> '''Ben Wetzel:''' I remember, a long time ago, Charlie Wade come to my daddy's shop. I was just a little boy. I heard stories about how he shot this'un and how he shot that'un. The man winked at me, I peed my pants. He just ''winked'' at me.

---> '''Sam:''' Mrs. Payne? I'm Sheriff Deeds.
---> '''Mrs. Payne:''' Sheriff Deeds is dead, honey. You just Sheriff Junior.

** Mercedes [[spoiler: who constantly looked down on illegal immigrants is revealed in flashback to be one herself, having gotten separated from her group at night in the middle of the Rio Grande, to be rescued by future husband Eladio Cruz.]]

** Otis Payne [[spoiler: even though he was a DisappearedDad kept close tabs on his son's progress in the military and bragged about him to whomever would listen, as Delmore learns upon seeing what amounts to a small shrine Otis erected detailing all of Delmore's accomplishments.]]

* AffiblyEvil: Sheriff Charlie Wade. He walked tall, always kept his uniform clean and sharp and knew everybody in the county by their first name. He was also corrupt as hell and though he "took care of his boys," if you didn't do what he said, when he said to do it he'd show you the [[CurbStompBattle underside of his boot.]] If he wanted you out of the way, he'd send you to jail, where you may or may not live to see trial. Get him really annoyed, he'd just search you, and ask politely to show him any weapons you might be carrying... then gun you down with a wink as you "went for a piece."

* TheDreaded: Charlie Wade. Anytime he walks in a room, people freeze and start wondering if they're the next one who is going to get shot.
---> '''Ben Wetzel:''' I remember when Charlie Wade came into my daddy's shop. I was just a little boy. I heard stories about how he shot this'un and how he shot that'un. The man winked at me and I peed my pants. He just winked at me.

* IAmNotMyFather: Sam resents any implications that he is similar to his dad in any way. Inverted in that pretty much the entire town agrees, wishing collectively that Sam 'was' more like their beloved Buddy Deeds.

* SecretOtherFamily: One of [[spoiler: Buddy's]] many secrets.

In the 1950's, Rio County suffered under the brutal bootheel of Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), an amoral lawman who terrorized the county profiting from protection rackets, smuggling, and wholesale murder when it suited him. Wade was especially fond of preying powerless blacks and hispanics, either sending them to "the farm," or killing them in cold blood with impunity. When Deputy Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey) arrives in town after a tour in the Korean War, he openly confronts the Sheriff, brazenly warning him to get out of town before he ended up "dead, or in jail." The next day, Wade disappears along with $10,000 in county funds, and Rio County sees decades of peace and prosperity under Sheriff Buddy Deed's watch.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Hollis Pogue meekly stood by and watched Sheriff Wade terrorize Rio County for years. He credits seeing Buddy stand up to Wade as the reason he was able to pull his gun and shoot Wade when he was about to kill an unarmed man he'd just beaten to the ground.]]

* IAmNotMyFather: Sam resents any implications that he is similar to his dad in any way.

* SecretOtherFamily: One of [[Spoilers: Buddy's]] many secrets.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Many of Rio County's problems center around this, with Sheriff Wade in the 40's and 50's, followed by Buddy Deeds, up to Hollis Pogue and the current mayor of Frontera.

* RunningGag: "Your mother was a saint."
** [[spoiler: Charlie Wade was indeed shot in the back by one of his deputies, but it was the seemingly spineless Deputy Hollis that did it to keep Wade from shooting Otis in the back in cold blood. Buddy arrived just in time to see it happen, then to protect Hollis and Otis helped them bury the body in the desert. To make Wade's disappearance seem more credible, Buddy took $10,000 from the county safe and gave it to Pilar to help the struggling widow after Wade murdered her husband.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Hollis Pogue watched Sheriff Wade meekly stood by and watched Sheriff Wade terrorize Rio County for years. He credits seeing Buddy stand up to Wade as the reason he was able to pull his gun and shoot Wade when he was about to kill an unarmed man he'd just beaten to the ground.]]

Lone Star, directed by John Sayles, is a modern-day western that examines the relationship between past and present, morality and righteousness, and the difference between myth and reality all while tackling the issues of race, gender, social class, police brutality, international relations, and historical revisionism.

In the 1950's, Rio County suffered under the brutal bootheel of Charlie Wade, an amoral lawman who terrorized the county profiting from protection rackets, smuggling, and wholesale murder when it suited him. Wade was especially fond of preying powerless blacks and hispanics, either sending them to "the farm," or killing them in cold blood with impunity. When Deputy Buddy Deeds arrived in town after a tour in the Korean War, he openly confronted the Sheriff, brazenly warning him to get out of town before he ended up "dead, or in jail." The next day, Wade disappeared along with $10,000 in county funds, and Rio County saw decades of peace and prosperity under Sheriff Buddy Deed's watch.

When a rusted sheriff's badge is discovered near the above-mentioned skeleton, evidence mounts that Charlie Wade didn't go peacefully into the night. Buddy's son Sam, now Sheriff of Rio County 40 some years later, investigates and suspects that his father just might not have been the hero that everybody remembers him to be...

** A tragic one [[spoiler: when lovestruck teenage lovers Sam and Pilar discover the reason their parents, Buddy and Mercedes, wanted to keep them apart wasn't because their parents were heartless racists, but because Buddy and Mercedes had an affair which resulted in Pilar's birth... making Sam and Pilar half-brother/sister.]]