Lone Star Reception Review:
- Half Glass Guy
- Mar 31, 2020
- 3 min read
Lone Star Deception (2019) is a film that politically drives the entire narrative. Essentially what it is about is there is a African American individual (Anthony Ray Parker) who becomes a Republican Party Candidate running for governor of Texas. While the concept seems quite interesting, and the film has some good moments of tension and character building, the aspect that falters the films quality and experience is the production.
Both lead actors Eric Roberts and Anthony Ray Parker give two decently overall performances that made the film stick out the most. There are many scenes with the two of them and both of them elevate the scenes to heights that I did not expect. I would even say that Parker manages to capture a feeling of hope through intense criticism for being African American and running for the governor of Texas. In fact, that element of the film really manages to keep it afloat.
And for whatever reason Eric Roberts does the same thing. Every scene he is in, he just makes the film better and bring a sense of personality to it. He has always been a unique actor to me because he always brings that level of character to every performance he does. Not to mention there are scenes in here where I was truly shocked by the way he takes control.
But this leads to me to the downfalls of Lone Star. Its a shame that such a high level concept gets downplayed by the production quality. There are many moments through out the film where the direction is just off kilter and does not make much sense. Both of the directors of the film are quite established filmmakers, making them seem like they are all well knowing how to direct and create films. Which here they have a created a thought-provoking political drama-thriller, but never have enough iconography to really have a feeling of a political thriller.
In fact there is one moment early on where we can notice the camera crew in a characters sunglasses. I am not trying to nitpick because it is easy to do so, but it is quite obvious and painfully easy to spot this error. And not just this little moment, but there are many moments throughout the film where the production level seems a little underdeveloped in my opinion.
Some of the lighting choices and camera movements are either adequate or confusing. The way the directors place their actors within the frame does not give them much of a chance to shine. Which is why I was highlighting the two lead performances above because when they are within the frame, and are given the chance to act, they give great performances that I truly was astonished that they were not given enough room to expand their characters more.
And thematically speaking, this is quite a unique film to experience due to its themes. I like the idea of a African American Republican candidate running in Texas. This idea shows how frightening and provocative it can be in the film, but then again, I must restate here, the quality of the production just takes you out the experience.
When it comes down to it, Lone Star Deception is a film with an intriguing premise with semi execution. The lead performances are about as good as they can be, and some of the thrilling scenes can be exciting to watch. However, it is a film that lacks a sense of quality and prestige, and displaying the topic that it does, I was hoping for better production value than we have. It is a film I can suggest, but approach it with that caution.
Run Time: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
Available on Vimeo on Demand, Amazon, FlixFling, InDemand, Vudu, Fandango
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