THE STORY: In a small Mississippi town, a couple of men, wired up by beer and the belief that being White inherently makes them superior, recklessly drive about in their pick-up truck, raising hell before coming upon a ten-year-old Black girl walking home from the market. Driven by their hatred, they abduct the child, brutally rape her, and in attempts to prevent her from identifying them, try to hang her. They fail, and are soon arrested where not long after the girl’s father guns them down on the courtroom steps, murdering them and accidentally maiming a county deputy in front of many witnesses. Defended by a young and up and coming White lawyer, the trial stirs up a local battle, drawing out the long hidden Ku Klux Klan, who threaten to avenge the slain men. Violence erupts in the streets and soon it’s far more than a father out for justice.
REVIEW: Directed by Joel Schumacher, A Time to Kill is a film adaptation of the popular John Grisham novel of the same name. Weighted by its heavy themes and its grand length (149 minutes), the movie is certainly satisfying, led by its large ensemble cast. Samuel L. Jackson is Carl Lee Hailey, the father of the girl, the question of whether he acted with premeditation or temporary insanity central to most of the plot. His lawyer is Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), a family man himself with a young daughter, trying to do what’s right but caught between the politics of justice and the hostility of the Klan.
Orbiting these two are a long list of well-known names, including Sandra Bullock as a peppy and bright law student, Oliver Platt as Brigance’s friend and fellow attorney, Donald Sutherland as the aging mentor, Charles S. Dutton as the Black sheriff, and Kevin Spacey as the show-boating DA. There are others as well, as the story marches out a number of peripheral characters that work to build a believable world if not one somewhat entrenched in its broad lines of good versus evil. That’s primarily the flaw here, that there is no subtlety in the messaging or its characters, speeches wrung for all their worth about division of race and everyone bolted to a singular defining characteristic. We’re left with a kind of high contrast image of the issues with extreme violence–wielded on both sides–cutting a deadly swath right through it. It works hard to justify the actions of Carl Lee and perhaps succeeds given what his daughter suffers, but there’s no getting around the circumvention of proper judicial process that in the end is rewarded. I guess that is the point.
Either way, this is a sturdy film with excellent performances all around, even as a bend in the plot has a silly romance teased that feels entirely out of context with the larger themes. One could easily see how Bullock’s character could be excised from this and have no impact on the story. Still, Schumacher builds plenty of steam in the opening chaos and keeps things tight throughout, helped by a strong score from Elliot Goldenthal and a genuine sense of place in time. Worth a look.
THAT MOMENT IN: Most will find the finale most inspiring, with Brigance delivering an emotionally charged summation that challenges the jury as well as the viewer to consider the fate of the young girl with new eyes. It is a powerful bit of acting from McConaughey, but it is also scripted to be so. I like better a smaller moment in court when the maimed deputy, played by Chris Cooper, takes the stand.
He’s lost his leg, his family furious, he himself seemingly overcome by anger, but it’s what truth lies beneath it that plays right into our expectations, making for a fantastic turn for the defense. Cooper is sensational in a brief appearance, leveling a huge hammer blow to the story that shifts the dynamic as the film heads for its third act. A great movie moment.