The Folksy Charm of ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ Surprises and Uplifts

The Folksy Charm of ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ Surprises and Uplifts

By Lynn Venhaus
In “The Rivals of Amziah King,” bluegrass, beekeeping and backwoods buddies keep this folksy fable brimming with surprises – with its twisty story, distinctive characters and strong sense of community.

In his first film in six years, Matthew McConaughey charms effortlessly as the title character. Convincing with his warm smile, deep drawl, and caring demeanor, Amziah is obviously beloved in this weathered patch of Oklahoma. A proponent of hospitality, potlucks and jam sessions, he dispenses poetic wisdom, surrounded by a fiercely loyal crew of eccentrics, misfits and lost souls.

Through superb cinematic storytelling, writer-director Andrew Patterson, whose impressive debut 2020 film “The Vast of Night” was an engrossing sci-fi thriller, has crafted a lived-in world that ebbs and flows with an entrancing Southern rhythm.

With its layered natural look, the cinematography by M.I. Littin-Menz and editing by Patrick J. Smith distinguish this film.

Owen Teague and Matthew McConaughey playing bluegrass.

Yes, it meanders, sprawling in a messy way, but it’s never not true to its roots. The message of integrity, tenacity and shared values strikes a chord in a fascinating found-family tale. Patterson’s on-the-nose metaphors are meaningful – the beehives are as captivating as communities as King’s devoted ragtag inner circle.

The homespun story unfolds in an unhurried fashion and is rich in noteworthy details. An unorthodox river heist is a marvel of ingenuity and determination while King’s tasty tour of dishes at a potluck, revealing the cook behind each recipe, is authentic in its ‘truth or a lie” sage advice.

Of the film’s many highlights, the breakout performance by Angelina LookingGlass as Kateri, who once stayed with Amziah and his wife Glenda when they were foster parents, is a heart-tugger. After Glenda died, Amziah was no longer able to foster youths and Kateri went back to her biological mother. They meet again, and it is kismet. He takes her under his wing as an apprentice, and she’s an unswerving protégé, with an interesting mystical side, too.

Other supporting characters are memorable. Jake Horowitz is street-smart and resourceful fixer Remmick, Scott Shepherd is mush-mouthed eccentric Chimmy, Cole Sprouse is fast-food worker Oat with super-sleuth skills, and Bruce Davis is savvy state investigator Sunderland. 

Kurt Russell as Dob McCoy.

In a brief but pivotal role, Kurt Russell is Dob McCoy, a slick powerful agricultural bigwig who oozes good ol’ boy charm.

Playing music are Rob Morgan as right-hand legal counsel Rippy; Owen Teague as rugged former Marine and fiddle player Pirate; and Tony Revolori as newcomer Colmar, among others.

The toe-tapping music soundtrack is sublime, with songs written by Erick Alexander and produced by T Bone Burnett. The joyous “Quill,” sung during a kitchen jam session with Ben Hardesty, is a standout.

While one can quibble with its thick aw-shucks characters that could lean towards cartoonish if they weren’t so genuine, what Patterson has created has a deeper emotional connection. His use of roots music to tell a tale about roots among people and towns is deftly delivered.

Amziah King demonstrates to Kateri how the hive reacts to the queen bee.

King says “Ain’t no one all bad or all good” and that’s the approach Patterson took writing these colorful characters. It gets a tad unsavory in the final third, as a revenge crime drama takes over.

McConaughey, the charismatic Oscar winner in his first big-screen role since “The Gentlemen” in 2019, is as magnetic as ever. (OK, he did “The Lost Bus” in 2025, but that was a streaming release, and his voice work in the “Sing” movies doesn’t count). The movie is reminiscent of his 2012 “Mud” – about a tight-knit community in rural Arkansas, and has a crowd-pleasing quality, like “The Peanut Butter Falcon” did in 2019.

McConaughey has a sweet, earthy chemistry with LookingGlass, and she lights up the screen when called upon to help save the business.

“The Rivals of Amziah King,” which premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival, has all the makings of a summer sleeper hit, in the same way that “Hell or High Water” became a big August surprise in 2016. At a recent Saturday matinee, the theater was packed with senior moviegoers, which was sweet music to my ears, much like this film.

“The Rivals of Amziah King” is a neo-western crime drama written and directed by Andrew Patterson and starring Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, Owen Teague, Jake Horowitz, Tony Revelori, Scott Shepherd and Kurt Russell. It is rated R for language and some grisly images and the run time is 2 hours 10 minutes. It opened in limited release Aug. 14 and will be released wide on Aug. 21. Lynn’s Grade: A-.

Despite Damon’s Efforts, Vague and Implausible ‘Stillwater’ Runs Dry

Despite Damon’s Efforts, Vague and Implausible ‘Stillwater’ Runs Dry

By Lynn Venhaus
A blatant rip-off of the sensational Amanda Knox student exchange murder case, the morally ambiguous “Stillwater” wants us to care about people not worth the investment.

That’s the biggest problem that this film can’t recover from – and a lack of redemption will leave an audience dissatisfied.  Because of a misleading trailer, this 2-hour and 20-minute film is not what one expects and when it falls apart in the third act, a huge letdown.

A father, unemployed oil rig worker Bill Baker (Matt Damon), travels from Oklahoma to France to help his estranged daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin), a student who is in prison for a murder she claims she didn’t commit. This is intense, but not action-driven like “Taken,” and while the romance is reminiscent of Robert Duvall’s Oscar winner, “Tender Mercies,” it begins to overshadow the central storyline.

“Life is brutal” is the disingenuous daughter’s deep thought about going through tough times. Well, duh. Doesn’t take Jean-Paul Sartre to figure that out.

At odds are the two main storylines – writer-director Tom McCarthy can’t decide on the focus, so it winds up feeling unfinished and lacks cohesiveness. Pick a lane – is this a vigilante hunt for the real killer thriller or is it a late-in-life romance and daddy do-over for a good old boy?

Three other screenwriters – Marcus Hinchey, Thomas Bidegain, who wrote the gripping French prison drama “A Prophet,” and Noe Debre – are credited, so no wonder it’s uneven.

Is the resemblance to the Knox case intentional? To refresh, the murder of her roommate took place in Italy in 2007 and the Italian Supreme Court overturned her conviction in 2015.

The French setting adds other layers besides the language barrier, which are interesting points to include. McCarthy, responsible for two exceptional fish-out-of-water films, “The Visitor” in 2008 and “The Station Agent” in 2003, knows how to craft an endearing character study featuring disparate individuals that fate has brought together.

This doesn’t measure up, which is so disappointing because McCarthy won an Oscar for writing “Spotlight,” which deservedly won Best Picture in 2016, one of the most important films of the decade.

Absent the sheen of a noble cause, “Stillwater” is a frustrating effort without a point.

Abigail Breslin, Oscar nominee for “Little Miss Sunshine,” is not convincing as the smart American lesbian who wanted to get far away from her troubled life in Stillwater, Okla., and wound up in a student exchange program in Marseille, a port city is southern France. She fell in love with Lina, a French-Arab student, and they moved in together.

However, Lina cheated on Allison with other people, and one night, she is found stabbed to death. Neither the press nor the courts had any sympathy for Allison, now serving her fourth year of a nine-year sentence.

Her estranged father, Bill, Damon in a redneck aw-shucks mode, arrives from France to help.  At first, he is bankrolled by Allison’s maternal grandmother Sharon (Tony Award winner Deanna Dunagan of “The Visit”), whose health won’t allow her to travel, but later, he gets construction work.

Sharon raised Allison after Bill’s wife, her daughter, committed suicide. This is glossed over, and the screenplay suffers from a lack of key information.

Apparently, Bill’s been messing up his whole life. He has served time too, for an undisclosed felony. No longer drinking, he is trying to be the dad he wasn’t while Allison was growing up. He takes it upon himself to investigate the case, arranging to meet locals who may know something.

His daughter has asked her lawyers to re-open the case because someone overheard a guy at a party claiming he did it, and in her letter to attorney Leparq, indicates she doesn’t trust her father. She has a deep resentment – but again, it’s not explored.

Because the main characters are extremely dysfunctional, it would have been nice to have some context.

Which leads us into the story’s secondary plot (or is it?) – Bill bonds with a single mother, Virginie (Camille Cottin), and her 9-year-old daughter, Maya (a wondrous Lilou Siauvand).

The kind, helpful woman, a French stage actress and activist, becomes his interpreter, then savior as a roommate and eventually, lover. Cottin is appealing and Siauvand, as her sweet daughter, is the scene-stealer.

Not unlike Amy Adams in the woefully misguided “Hillbilly Elegy,” Damon tries his mightiest to breathe humanity into a deeply flawed ordinary Joe trying to make up for past mistakes.

Despite Damon’s efforts immersing himself into the role with vigor, Breslin’s limited emotional depth and a wobbly defense propel this film off the rails. The slow pace doesn’t help it either.

Missed opportunities and miscasting make “Stillwater” a disheartening watch. It’s comparable to an extended “Law & Order” episode or a true-crime Lifetime movie, and I expected much more.

“Stillwater” is a 2021 drama directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon, Abigail Breslin, Camille Cottin and Lilou Siauvand. Rated R for language, the film’s run time is 2 hours, 20 minutes. It opened in theatres on July 30. Lynn’s Grade: C-.