The young Texan booked his first big role in John Sayles' crime drama, although his appearance in it isn't much more than a cameo. His character's shadow looms large over the proceedings, however, appearing in flashback as the father of Chris Cooper's reluctant police officer working on the US/Mexico border. Lone Star opens with the discovery of...well, not exactly a body, but a skeleton. With a sheriff's badge. Said sheriff is himself played in the flashbacks by Kris Kristofferson as a nasty little sumbitch who takes bribes, extorts money from local business, and is generally an awful person to the majority black and Hispanic population of his town. Local legend tells that his young deputy, Buddy Deeds (McConaughey) was the only one to ever step up to him, and chased him out of town, never to be seen again. When his bones turn up, that story is called into question. Rather than being a straight crime thriller, the film is really a drama that focuses on the way history plays on the lives of people living today. Most of the heavy lifting is left to Cooper, a young officer who never bought the folk tale depiction of his distant, philandering father, but McConaughey really shines in his few flashback scenes. Near-unrecognisable not because of dropping the pounds but because he's so fresh-faced, he holds his own against Kristofferson at his bonkers best, showing potential that no doubt lead to his first starring role that same year.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
