‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ is the second feature film from writer/director Andrew Patterson, and stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular character, with a solid supporting cast featuring Kurt Russell, Jake Horowitz and newcomer Angelina LookingGlass.

I’ve been looking forward to watching this film – ever since it was announced a couple of years back – as I really enjoyed Patterson’s debut movie ‘The Vast of Night’, which was a small budget production that was cleverly-written and masterfully shot. After a lengthy production process hindered by strikes and some creative issues, ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ was finally given a theatrical release earlier this month, much to my great delight.

But here’s the thing: I suspect that this movie won’t go gangbusters in cinemas, but instead will find most of its audience on a streaming service between now and the end of the year. Therefore I am happy to offer an honest review of this film, but I will keep things short and sweet as I don’t want to give too much of the story away.

I will start by saying that Matthew McConaughey is on top of his game with his portrayal of Amziah King, who is a man best described as the pillar of his rural Oklahoma town. Not long into the film we are introduced to young Kateri – played by Angelina LookingGlass – who by chance stumbles her way back into Amziah’s life, having once been under his foster care when she was a younger girl. Here I will point out that the father-and-daughter chemistry between these two actors is incredible.

Whilst the film places a heavy focus on Amziah and Kateri, it also manages to expand seamlessly to bring the entire community into the fold; and through the townsfolk’s love of bluegrass music and ‘potlucks’ the audience is able to connect with these people and the manner in which they go about their daily lives. From the opening musical jam at the drive-in burger joint, to an outrageously weird accident scene in the honey factory, and then onto Amziah’s mentoring of Kateri and his way of welcoming her into the community – the first half of this movie is truly something special.

But then the main focus of the film shifts dramatically at the halfway mark, and having presented such a feel-good and inspirational story up to that point, it was always going to be difficult to maintain those high standards after turning everything upside-down. To be fair, the movie does play out quite well through to the end, with some eye-catching sequences and a real sense of the community all coming together for the greater good, but there is a feeling of lopsidedness to the story-telling that I just could not shake. Don’t get me wrong: it’s still a great film.

To date, ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ has received very good reviews, and for the most part I don’t disagree there. It is a very enjoyable movie, but it is not the classic that some people are claiming it to be. However, this film is certainly unique and gives us an amazing snapshot of rural America, and is a real stand out for the way it presents the characters and connects the audience to them.

Again, I apologise for being so vague in this review, but I honestly don’t want to tarnish anyone’s enjoyment of this film by giving spoilers away. I don’t know what else to say other than I am still thinking about this movie a couple of days after watching it – and I can’t get some of the catchy bluegrass tunes out of my head! High praise indeed.

I would certainly recommend ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ – happily giving it a score of eight out of ten – and I also suggest that you check out Andrew Patterson’s other movie ‘The Vast of Night.’

Screenshots and photos courtesy of Black Bear Pictures, Heyday Films and GED Media