10 Best Westerns NOT Set In The Old West

Before Matthew McConaughey won an Oscar and began one of cinema's best career changes, he gave a compelling and passionate performance in Lone Star, a subtle and underrated gem released in 1996.

Directed and written by John Sayles, the film is set in the nineties and follows a sheriff (Chris Cooper) as he investigates the mystery surrounding a recently uncovered skeleton. Digging into the Texan town's past, Sheriff Sam Deeds come to learn that his beloved and popular father, Buddy (McConaughey) was not as clean and straight as he led to believe.

Outside of some classic Western tropes, Lone Star is also complete with a romance and subplots about corruption, money, deception, family and the looming spectre of the past.

Cooper and McConaughey are simply terrific. Every frame is expertly crafted, the tension is heightened with every revelation that comes our way, and the entire thing watches like a Western transported to another time and place, only it's still very much intact and just as juicy and great as if it was set in the 1800s.

Oh, and Kris Kristofferson's in it, which is just cool.

A great psychological thriller, it was well received upon its release but has since slipped into obscurity. It's well worth a watch, especially considering where McConaughey is now.