People have strong feelings about their favorite movies, y’all. We get it. So note that this list is based on a feeling of deep fondness rather than, say, cinematic perfection. Plus, we like the way that this selection offers viewers glimpses into different areas of the state.
Also, the fact that Matthew McConaughey makes an appearance in three of the five is either sheer coincidence or a testament to his ability to know a good script when he sees one. Then again maybe the actor just talks Texan really well? Tough call.
Giant
Year: 1956
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean
Director: George Stevens
The Story In a Nutshell: Maryland girl falls for handsome, wealthy Texas landowner and heads West to set up housekeeping, only to encounter a handful of a sister-in-law, a handsome wildcatter, and the slings and arrows of having and raising a family in the early- to mid- twentieth century.
What We Love About It: The music, the long-form approach to cinematic storytelling, and those swell clothes on Taylor? Wow.
Best Scene: Let’s just say some of us felt great kinship with Bick Benedict (Hudson) in that diner scene when the cook refused to serve Bick’s grandchildren—and so gramps up and threw a punch like a champ.
Hope Floats
Year: 1998
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick, Jr., and Gena Rowlands
Director: Forest Whitaker
The Story In a Nutshell: Newly divorced Birdee (Bullock) has a cute kid, a strong-willed mama, and a handsome cowboy with major heart eyes. What’s Birdee to make of this new chapter of her life?
What We Love About It: The cast and crew, led by one of our favorite actor/directors (Whitaker), did a fine job of capturing the at-times stifling nature of small-town life and pairing it with the challenges Birdee faces balancing motherhood with her own personal desires.
Best Scene: Any shot with a young Harry Connick, Jr. in it is worth watching. Just sayin’.
Dazed & Confused
Year: 1993
Stars: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, and Matthew McConaughey
Director: Richard Linklater
The Story In a Nutshell: School’s out for summer in 1976 and some suburban Austin teenagers are ready to let their hair down.
What We Love About It: Great soundtrack, great cast, and if you went to college at UT or lived in Austin in the early 1990s, it’s like taking a trip back through time. (Look closely for a young Renee Zellweger.)
Best Scene: “Alright, alright, alright.” Need we say more?
Lone Star
Year: 1996
Stars: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, and Stephen Mendillo with Matthew McConaughey
Director: John Sayles
The Story In a Nutshell: First a skeleton turns up in the desert and then some long-buried secrets work their way to the surface, too.
What We Love About It: The storytelling is epic and the perspective the script offers on life along the Texas-Mexico border is compelling and insightful. (Plus, we love the late, great Peña!)
Best Scene: That moment near the end where the love birds discuss what they didn’t know all along? Ouch.
Bernie
Year: 2011
Stars: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Richard Linklater
The Story In a Nutshell: When Bernie Tiede (Black) discovers his friendship with Marjorie Nugent (MacLaine) is more than he wants, he goes with an, ahem, unconventional method of putting the brakes on the relationship. Based on a true crime story from Carthage, Texas but offered up with a heavy dose of dark humor.
What We Love About It: There’s a delicious tension between knowing it’s wrong to laugh about such a serious subject and having an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh out loud.
Best Scene: It’s not part of the main storyline but the old man in the diner who explains his map of Texas is pure comedy gold.
Story by Pamela Price
