When a band of weary soldiers become disillusioned with the ideals of the confederacy they had been conscripted to fight for, they decide to desert and head back to the home county of their leader Newton Knight (McConaughey). Rallying together with like-minded local farmers from the local counties – all sick of paying inflated taxes for a war they don’t believe in – they secede from the union to form their own micronation, the Free State of Jones.

Knight leads a militia to defend the newly formed state from confederate objections, which grow louder as the State implements progressive laws and moves towards racial equality. Even Knight finds himself falling in love with, and marrying, a former slave (Mbatha-Raw) during the time.

Free State of Jones is the latest film to cash in on the public appetite for civil war and emancipation/civil rights drama, following the critical and commercial success of films like Lincoln, 12 Years a Slave and more recently-set fare like The Help and Selma.

The film has an excellent pedigree both in front of and behind the camera, particularly in so-hot-right-now Matthew McConaughey and veteran writer/director Gary Ross (who most recently kicked off The Hunger Games series on the big screen and had his last period film, Seabiscuit, find its way to seven Oscar nominations). Grow that beard and dig in for an adventurous take on an interesting footnote in American history!

Monsieur Henri is a grumpy old man who is struggling with living alone in a large Parisian apartment. He reluctantly consents to his son Paul advertising for someone to rent one of the rooms, and the prospective tenant turns out to be a young student, Constance. After initial abrasiveness, M. Henri starts to see some value in his new housemate, and offers her the room rent-free – in exchange for her breaking up the marriage of his son and his daughter-in-law Valérie, who he has always detested.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I sneeringly rolled my eyes and thought “not anther lame French comedy”. However, I took a chance on it, and I am glad I did. This has charm, wit and real characters and, when you have those three elements in abundance, the occasional broad joke can be appreciated for what it is. Director Calbérac has adapted his own moderately successful stage play for the screen, and the chemistry between veteran Brasseur and newcomer Schmidt (looking a lot like Emma Watson in most scenes, if you ask me) help it make the leap to cinema. Guillame de Tonquedec is also good value as the dull accountant son forced to go through a midlife crisis (and it manages to balance the usual May-December infatuation part with class and respect, unlike many other mainstream romantic comedies).

This is one definitely worth sticking around for at a late Friday night screening.