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Simply Perfect

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

best movie i've ever seen.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

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".

(Originally reviewed: 10/01/2017) Matthew Mcconaughey is absolutely brilliant in this well-crafted courtroom thriller. The picture starts off with a touchy subject involving the rape of a young girl, the makers handle this with care and precision, the girl's father played by no other than Samuel L. Jackson (yeah you messed with the wrong guy's daughter) is so angry; he guns down these two men as payback for what they did to his daughter, hence the picture moves on to his trial which any civilized person is aware cannot be won, as capital murder of two people is hardly going to result in a release; however the director (Joel Schumacher) was simply trying to put together a well-made thriller, and on that note he succeeds. Let's get into the performances, the delightful Sandra Bullock is really good as Mcconaughey's informant and Samuel. L Jackson is tense and on point like he is most of the time. The entire cast are honestly impressive, not a lazy performance in sight. Kiefer Sutherland plays the brother of one of the rapists that was killed and he as expected seeks vengeance for what has happened, he also happens to be a racist redneck, and despite appearing in KKK scenes that they could have done without, he was always good. Ashley Judd (Mcconaughey's wife), Chris Cooper (a local cop) and everyone else are adequate and effective in the picture.Although I have a few problems with it, such as several scenes involving the KKK which are ridiculous and distract us from the thrilling courtroom drama and the main storyline; I also feel they could have chopped the length of the picture down a bit and as mentioned I found the story's outcome a little bit too implausible for my liking, but all in all, Schumacher's A Time to Kill is a good 90's thriller with some solid, intense courtroom drama.

"A Time to Kill" (1996)This isn't just any movie, filled with the A-League of Hollywood. This isn't just a story well written and brought to screens.The summary for this movie sounds so... simple. "In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year- old daughter, inciting a revolt by local racist groups."What this summary doesn't tell you, is, that 'A Time to Kill' is one of the most heartbreaking, soul-shattering and mind-tearing movies you could ever watch.The novel, with the same title, by John Grisham​ from 1989 was already almost too much to bear and it took every ready many tears to cope with the pain this story caused. Not a second of the novel - or the movie - goes by without the reader/watcher sobbing and fighting back the gasps of shock.Now, watching the story being told by the most talented people the movie industry has to offer is exactly the kind of cinema we have been missing for so many years.These days, Hollywood doesn't know how to make movies anymore. Back in the 90's they sure as hell ripped us apart from the inside out with amazing stories like this one.Instead of writing terrible scripts, they should invest more time reading and finding such diamonds like "A Time to Kill" by John Grisham.

Sympathetic to the crime of a local African American who shot dead two men who raped his preteen daughter, a Mississippi lawyer tries to get his client off the hook by pleading temporary insanity in this courtroom drama. The key issue highlighted here is whether the murderer, played by Samuel L. Jackson, can get a fair trial in such a deeply racist community, and the film's most potent scenes are dedicated to a KKK rebirth as the trial stirs up division. The film trips up though by making racism (not ethics) the central issue and by making the local D.A. such a condescending, despicable character that his argued logic (individuals should not take the law into their own hands) gets buried beneath his smarminess. Examined objectively, Jackson is unquestionably guilty. Having hinted to his lawyer what he intended to do beforehand, it is unethical for the lawyer to plead temporary insanity, quite aside from the fact that rape (no matter how brutal) is seldom ever argued as grounds for justifiable homicide. With all this in mind, the movie becomes very uncomfortable to watch as we are positioned to root for Jackson to get off, simply because it would be a triumph over racism. The unanswered question that lingers in the air is whether Jackson would have gotten off were he Caucasian because then the jury would not feel racist if they voted 'guilty'. And yet, while deeply flawed, 'A Time to Kill' is always engaging to view. The performances are uniformly excellent, tension frequently abounds and the telling final shot is great -- but one's moral compass may well waver while watching the film.