Racism has, at long last, finally been fixed. Days later, as Carl Lee hosts a party at his home, Jake arrives with his wife and child – their kids playing together at last. An overbearing orchestral arrangement loudly blares over scenes of cheering African-Americans, angry and defeated Klansmen, and much back-slapping and hugging in court. It all falls apart completely in its jubilant, overly celebratory climax. Sadly there are other scenes and moments that push in the other direction. There are a number of similar scenes and moments throughout the film. It is a powerful reminder of privilege, racism, and class. An overly patient Carl Lee is left to remind Jake that they aren’t friends. There is a particularly great scene in the middle of the film, in which Jake – despairing that he is losing the case – confides in Carl Lee that he has let his friend down. Regardless of the film’s other virtues and problems, it boasts one of the strongest Hollywood casts of its decade. Dutton, Oliver Platt, Brenda Fricker, and Patrick McGoohan.
Not only does the film feature McConaughey, Jackson, Sutherland, and Spacey (an uncomfortable presence given subsequent sexual misconduct allegations), it also employs Sandra Bullock, Donald Sutherland, Ashley Judd, Charles S. In the latter regard A Time to Kill excels. Legal dramas essentially require good screenplays and casts, since by-and-large they consist of people arguing in rooms to drive their narratives.
While battling prosecutor Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey) in court, Brigance and his family are under threat from Freddie Lee Cobb (Kiefer Sutherland) – the vengeful brother of one of the dead men. Jackson) – who has murdered two white supremacists that raped and tortured his young daughter. Looking back after more than 25 years, it still seems a hard period to logically reconcile.Ī Time to Kill follows young Mississippi lawyer Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), who defends black man Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. When Schumacher followed his second Grisham film up with Batman & Robin in 1997, it pretty much capped one of the more bizarrely inconsistent runs an American filmmaker had ever had: inconsistent in content, in tone, in subject matter, and in quality. Two years later Schumacher returned with A Time to Kill – adapted at last – having directed Batman Forever in between. Pakula’s The Pelican Brief later that year and Joel Schumacher’s The Client in 1994. Sydney Pollack’s adaptation of The Firm came first in 1993, followed by Alan J. When his second novel, The Firm (1991) sold about seven million copies, not only did it lead to a much larger reprint of A Time to Kill but Grisham was transformed into Hollywood’s hottest literary property. John Grisham’s 1989 novel A Time to Kill was rejected by major American publishers, ultimately getting a 5000-copy print run from Wynwood Press.
Note: the last two paragraphs of this review spoil the ending of the film.
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