A Time to Kill (1996)

Another reviewer on this board made a comparison of the film with "To Kill a Mockingbird", and although the same thought came to me while watching it, the similarity is never fully realized. In the earlier movie, a black man was found guilty of raping a white woman, and the stereotype of redneck Southern justice is essentially carried out. The better comparison I think, can be made with another film I just recently viewed, that being "Sleepers", in which a pair of thugs murder a former reform school guard who physically abused them while they were in their teens. The whole idea of social justice is stood on it's head in both films, and if the thought behind each movie is to make viewers feel conflicted about their outcomes, then they both succeeded. Just like Gregory Peck's character in 'Mockingbird', Jake Brigance approached his job via a one on one relationship with the accused, a man who's ability to reason is shattered when his ten year old daughter is assaulted and raped by the side of the road, and left to die when a couple of degenerates decide to partake in some demented version of what they consider fun. However the character who perhaps straddles the line best between blacks and whites in the story is Sheriff Ozzie Walls (Charles S. Dutton), a black man who has the same keen sense of justice as does Brigance. He's unafraid to arrest the guilty perpetrators of the horrible rape of the ten year old Tonya Hailey (RaéVen Kelly), nor is he troubled about taking her father (Samuel L. Jackson) into custody for the shooting at the courthouse. I had the sense that he was a well respected man of Canton who saw his job as color blind in the eyes of the law.In a way, the picture's most defining moment might have been saved for the very final scene. Following Carl Lee Hailey's (Jackson) impassioned dialog with his lawyer, one which inspired Jake Brigance to revamp his closing argument, we see Brigance and his family arrive at the Hailey home, as jubilant neighbors celebrate the acquittal. Taking to heart what it means to be truly accepting of others different from themselves, Jake confidently comes to terms with Carl Lee's persuasive suggestion by stating, "Just thought our kids could play together".

Probably the worst, most fake courtroom movies ever made. No way, no how in the REAL WORLD would the murdering defendant get acquitted ANYWHERE, let alone by the "racist all-white jury." Lol the night before verdict, the jury all says he's guilty, but because McCaugnahey cries during his summation (telling the jury the facts of the case they already know), all 12 of them suddenly change their minds and acquit?? Lol gimme a break. Oh yeah, and never mind that the prosecution didn't get a summation in the la-la land Hollywood courtroom. In the REAL WORLD, it does not matter how horrific or heinous the crime is. Our law does not allow vigilante justice--no matter whether the avenger is black, white, green or purple. Even if the two racist whites had killed the little girl (which they didn't), the father who takes the law into his own hands to murder them in cold blood (not to mention that he blew the leg off an innocent cop in his illegal act) would rightfully and legally be convicted of murder. End of story. Even if the defendant were a white man in Mississippi, he would be convicted. The fact that the defendant in the movie was black just makes it an even faker ending. Grisham is an idiot and so is anyone who thinks this was a good movie. I'm so glad I never paid to watch it and waited 20 years until it was on TV one night when I was bored.

"I don't believe in forgiveness. I don't believe in rehabilitation. I only believe in security and justice." This dialogue gives the glimpse of the whole plot. The movie is a perfect amalgamation of emotions with revenge and justice in mind. With Kevin Spacey and Matthew McConaughey opposite to each other with Spacey on wrong side, the movie gives a perfect taste of rivalry. The only shortcoming that the movie possesses is a sudden end to this rivalry. That's the reason for cutting out one star. The movie plot matched my theory of true justice. If you are too liberal, you may not like it. But the story told by Brigance at the end might change your stance. A must watch.

"In conditions where everything is stacked against the majority, 'playing fair' amounts to accepting a position of disadvantage. In fighting for fairness, one doesn't have 'play fair'. It's the classic problem of Liberals - taking the moral high ground and leaving it at that. Power doesn't play by those rules. If you are looking to change the rules, why start by abiding by them?" - Mark Fisher Based on a novel by John Grisham, and directed by Joel Schumacher, "A Time to Kill" opens with a pair of stereotypical racists driving a pick-up truck into a poor African-American neighbourhood. The duo then assault and rape a young African-American girl. Later the girl's father, Carl Lee (Samuel L Jackson), shoots the culprits dead on the steps of a courthouse. These murders are justifiable, Lee's attorney (Matthew McConaughey) argues, because "the law is racist", would have pardoned the killers and would not have delivered justice to a black father. As a representative from the NAACP says, "Carl Lee's freeing for the killing of two white men would do more for black people in this land than anything since civil-rights integration." On one hand, "A Time to Kill" is your typical Liberal Deep South Lawyer Movie. Our heroes are righteous, upstanding and stand up for marginalised black folk. On the other hand, the film argues passionately for vigilantism (a trait usually associated with "conservative" films). For Grisham, vigilantism is fine when executed by the oppressed. Encapsulating these themes are the film's opening and closing sequences; Schumacher opens with racists spitting in the face of an African-American man and ends with an African-American woman spitting in the face of a white racist. What was once condemned, is finally embraced."A Time to Kill's" philosophical gymnastics and racial inversions are interesting. But they don't make up for the rest of Schumacher's picture. This is ultimately a cartoonish portrait of the Deep South. And like most films "about racism", "A Time to Kill" trades entirely in racial caricatures, with its goofy, "churchgoing black folk", "gospel choirs" and "mad rednecks". Sandra Bullock co-stars as a law student who exists only to get lynched on a tree and prove McConaughey's fidelity to his wife (Ashley Judd).7/10 – Worth one viewing.