For six years, Matthew McConaughey, Austin's beloved son, traded Hollywood for real life. He embraced fatherhood, penned a bestselling memoir championing "easy-livin'," and even lectured at the University of Texas at Austin.
But his activism took center stage when he pleaded for gun control at the White House following the devastating Uvalde school shooting.
He also flirted with the idea of a gubernatorial run in Texas. But acting? That took a backseat after his 2019 roles in The Beach Bum and The Gentlemen. The McConaissance seemed to have faded... until now.
Monday marked McConaughey's grand return at the SXSW premiere of The Rivals of Amziah King. He charmed the crowd with a folksy introduction, fueling speculation about his political ambitions. He explained his absence by saying that director Andrew Patterson's "love story of misfits" lured him back. McConaughey's signature charisma remains intact, but can the film keep up?
Critics are calling The Rivals of Amziah King an "unwieldy vehicle." Patterson's film, seven years in the making, juggles family drama, farce, Americana, thriller, and heist elements, resulting in a jarring experience. The film feels like two separate movies.
McConaughey embodies Amziah King, a shaggy, storytelling honey magnate. Patterson glorifies Amziah's connection to his hives and his band of folk-musician helpers [Owen Teague, Scott Shepherd, Rob Morgan, Tony Revolori, and Jake Horowitz] with an almost reverential Americana gloss.
The story shifts to Kateri [Angelina LookingGlass], Amziah's foster daughter, as she takes charge of the business through legal and illegal means, seeking vigilante justice against a shady agricultural bigwig [Kurt Russell].
The film's 130-minute runtime is filled with slapstick comedy, even in the darkest moments. This creates a slippery, oddball experience, but the discordant notes fail to create a coherent ode to "a way of life." The film feels archaic despite being set in the present.
The film's idealized vision of racial harmony, community, and dignity clashes with its bizarrely paced crime plot.
For a film that praises a communal way of life, it has a strangely murky sense of ethics, treating life and death with an off-kilter jauntiness. The longer the film goes, the more jarring the tone becomes.
The film suffers from McConaughey's absence for over half the movie. While LookingGlass brings humor to Kateri, her character lacks depth, leaving the film's second chapter feeling opaque.
McConaughey's intention to spotlight others is noble, but without his charisma, the film veers off-key.
The Rivals of Amziah King aims to showcase the overlooked, but ultimately misses the mark.