Richard Crouse

SYNOPSIS: In “The Rivals of Amziah King,” a new crime thriller now playing in theatres, Matthew McConaughey stars as a beekeeper whose life is upended by the return of his estranged stepdaughter and violent business rivals. “Get ready, my little chickadee. Bees only swarm when they are ready for a fight.”

CAST: Matthew McConaughey, Angelina LookingGlass, Jake Horowitz, Scott Shepherd, Rob Morgan, Tony Revolori, Kurt Russell. Directed by Andrew Patterson.

REVIEW: Set in the backwoods of rural Oklahoma, “The Rivals of Amziah King” stars Matthew McConaughey as the title character, a beekeeper and bluegrass musician who runs the biggest honey operation in his area. “I know the weather. I know the bees. I know the point where anyone else would give up and I won’t.”

His life is changed for the better when his foster daughter Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass) reappears in his life. As the pair become reacquainted, making the most of their second chance at having a meaningful relationship, Amziah opens his heart and business to the young women.

But as their efforts to create a true family business are threatened by powerful rivals looking to undo everything Amziah and Kateri have built.

“This isn’t just theft. There’s a design and a cruelty to this. Someone loaded up everything he built and took it all away. And I’m going to find them and I’m going to take it all back.”

“The Rivals of Amziah King” feels like two films.

With no spoilers I can tell you that the first hour is a hang out movie disguised as a character study of Amziah. In McConaughey’s hands he is a bigger-than-life man, who doesn’t speak, but rather pontificates, on bees, life and whatever else strikes his fancy. He’s a William Faulkner-esque character, a distinctly southern person, poetically earthy with a deep reservoir of humanity and spirituality.

Director Andrew Patterson takes his time, allowing us to get to know Azmiah, Kateri and other members of the tight knit community through storytelling, music and lots of talk about bees. In fact, it sometimes feels like “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bees but Were Afraid to Ask” would be a better title but there’s a sanctity to Amziah’s connection with the bees that is intriguing.

Which is why it comes as such a surprise when around the hour mark, the movie drops its tone poem tendencies in favor of shift toward crime thrills and revenge. It’s not an easy fit, and the movie loses much of its heartfelt charm as it becomes about stolen bee colonies and amateur sleuthing.

Up until that part, however, “The Rivals of Amziah King” is a wonderfully offbeat movie that creates a beautiful portrait of community that sprouted up around its central character.