Rating: 
Summary: Based on a Grisham novel
Review: Good. Scary. Moral. Exciting. Violent. Kinda sexy here and there. Definitely worth watching. It's a movie about an attorney who defents a black man in the South after he kills the two (white) men who raped his little girl. Lots of really good actors appear in this riveting film: Matthew McConaughey (in his break-out role), Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd'
It's a goodie.
Rating: 
Summary: I Love This Movie!
Review: This movie is one of my favorites and I highly recommend that everyone see it because it is thought provoking and it forces you to put yourself in the character's shoes and think about what you would do. The movie begins with the brutal rape of a little black Mississippi girl by two white men. The girl's father Carl Lee, played by Samuel L. Jackson, then shoots and kills the guys- in the courthouse, mind you. Matthew McConaughey plays Carl Lee's attorney, Jake Brigance. The plot line continues with bouts including the KKK and the NAACP. Something notable that I really like is the exposing of the NAACP's arrogance and crookedness that happens all too often in real life. All of the actors do a great job in this film. Kevin Spacey is the prosecutor and Sandra Bullock plays Brigance's legal aid, whom he almost ends up having an affair when his wife (Ashley Judd) leaves town for her and their daughter's safety. If nothing else, you've got to see this movie for the fact that Matt McConaughey is the leading man. He is so hot! Even though I disagree with the verdict, A Time To Kill is a must see if you haven't viewed it yet. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film Best Matthew ever
Review: This is the best performance by Matthew I've seen--sadly, b/c this is early for him. The plot is terrific--full of moral potholes and ambigious responsibility. Terrific film. Sandra Bullock and Mat show some chemistry here--this pre- rumors about their relationship ["just friends!"] Ashley Judd performs well as Mat's wife although her role is somewhat peripheral. But, Samuel is really the meat of the story. He and Mat have some excellent interaction and Samuel's character is so deeply sympathetic that the viewer is very invested in his dilemna. Nicely done.
Rating:
Summary: A Time To Kill
Review: This is a great movie with a great cast! I had to read To Kill A Mockingbird for school and my teacher showed us one scence from A Time To Kill and I rented it that weekend and I fell in love with it mostly because it's a great movie and a great story line but also because Matthew McConaughey is really hot so what's bad with that combination??
Rating:
Summary: riveting and sensational, a worthy movie
Review: this one gets my vote because its so powerful and so shocking. a little girl is raped and the clues turn to two rednecks(one of them a unrecignizbale Nicky Katt) and they go on trial, but then they end up dead by the gun of Samuel L. Jackson(intense and wonderful). so then hes put on trial and representing him is Sandra Bullock, Oliver Platt and Matthew McConaghuey(one of his best roles). and the opposing side is held up by Kevin Spacey. this will leave you with some tears when McConaughey does his closing arguement( no I did not cry but it was powerful). Joel Schumacher knows his drama.
Rating:
Summary: A Must See!!
Review: AWESOME!! An amazing cast creating a powerful movie, that is borderline epic with its meaning. Highly Recommended!! Not a big Grisham fan but love this movie. A must see!!
Rating:
Summary: A Time to Kill
Review: Very touching movie with lots of drama. I LOVE IT!
Rating:
Summary: A Time for me to Stop Chastising Joel Schumacher
Review: If you by chance have read my reviews of various "Batman" films, you notice I take lots shots at director Joel Schumacher for his take on the Dark Knight. And while that is well-deserved, Schumacher earns my respect with this adaptation of the John Grisham legal thriller "A Time to Kill," with brings unexpected dramatic surprises to table as it probes an infamous (albeit fictional) murder case in a small Mississippi town that involves a black father (a moving performance by Samuel L. Jackson) who kills in full view of a crowd the men suspected of brutally raping his daughter. Into the sordid matter, comes an young, headstrong attorney named Jake Brigance (a great Matthew McConaugey) to represent the father. To aid him, are his mentor Lucien Wilbanks (a delicious Donald Sutherland) and an fiercely idealistic legal aid (Sandra Bullock). Director Schumacher takes this premise and builds on it well, adding in issues including how much the rape contirbutes to the fathers' actions, intense racial feuding and the threats put on Brigance, his team and his client. Most of those threats come from the KKK (a cliche, yes, but it is handled well here) led by a local biggot (Kiefer Sutherland). The courtroom drama played by Brigance and an aggressive district attorney (Kevin Spacey) spills outside as fights erupt between black and KKK mobs, assaination attempts and arson. It all leads back to the heightened courtroom drama that ends with the a revelation by Brigance that hits at the heart of why racism exists. What ultimately makes "A Time to Kill" a cut above the average drama/thriller is, not only the stellar ensemble cast, but how smartly Director Schumacher and Academy-Award winning writer Akiva Goldsman look at the issues of racism today and the repercussions it can have. Like the amazon. com editorial reviewer stated, "You would know it by the 'Batman' films they collaborated on..." but they do have moviemaking chops and they know how to make films with a brain happen. "A Time to Kill" is one of those.
Rating: 
Summary: TERRIFIC MOVIE, ALMOST
Review: In a small Mississippi community, a former Vietnam combat vet Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) guns down with his M-16 rifle two white men on the courthouse steps, just before their arraignment. The two young men had brutally raped and then tried to kill Hailey's 10-year-old daughter. Hailey's is a righteous killing. But! A progressive white lawyer, Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) agrees to defend him. Because he feels he could have prevented Hailey's crime, Brigance's guilty feelings make him stick with the case even after the KKK tries to kill him. Hailey, a cagey fellow, had come to Brigance to arrange his defense before committing the crime! [Isn't that premeditation?] The two men had been more or less friends. It later comes out in an intense jailhouse scene that Hailey had chosen Brigance because he's one of "them." And it will take "one of them" to get him free. Pretty good scene. McConaughey has little polish as an actor, but he does have a lot of charisma. He's sort of like a young Marlon Brando in the 1966 film "The Chase." But McConaughey has nowhere near Brando's acting talent. Somehow, the camera likes McConaughey, which can get you pretty far in Hollywood! The story is less a modern story, but more like one that might have taken place 20 or 30 years earlier. All the standard white southern stereotypes are used. There are street demonstrations and cross-burnings, just like in the 1960's. Modern homocidal racists don't bother burning crosses or demonstrating. They simply burn down or blow up the church. Then there's Sandra Bullock, who ACTUALLY stumbles over her lines (which should have been edited out), and who is miscast as the bright, idealistic young college law student from a well to do "liberal" family -- kind of a cliche. Maybe I'm getting tired of Bullock playing hapless-but-smart young things. Bullock aside, this is a sloppy film. There's a scene where a Klansman is set on fire by a youth's Molotov Cocktail. He's rolling around on the ground during a race riot. Just before they cut to the next scene, somebody, a stage technician, rushes in (from off camera) with a fire extinguisher to put out the stunt man's flames. The fire extinguisher part was obviously supposed to have been cut out of the film. Can you believe the filmmakers were that sloppy? It gets worse. We're supposed to believe that Judge Noose (I'm not making this up. They've got the British actor -- heavy Brit accent and all -- Patrick McGoohan, playing a Mississippi judge named Noose -- were they trying to be funny?) suddenly starts letting Brigance get away with all kinds of courtroom tricks after being very hostile and unfair towards him in the beginning. We're supposed to believe that Noose will allow Brigance to argue about "facts" during his summation that had not been presented in evidence? What is that? The story is great. Too bad this film isn't better than it is. There's some good acting talent in it, including Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey, prosecutor Rufus Buckley, and Jackson, who gives a brilliant performance, as does Oliver Platt ("Flatliners"). It's not a bad film, it just doesn't lift itself above the level of average. Sorry guys. This film rates a C. Even if you are willing to totally suspend your disbelief, maybe it can go as high as a B.
Rating:
Summary: For Whom Will Justice Prevail?
Review: In A Time To Kill, Carl lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), a black man from the southern town of Canton, Mississippi, has his world turned upside down when he finds out that his 10 year old daughter, Tonya, has been viciously raped, beaten and left for dead, by two local rednecks. In this town where segregation is supposed to be gone, and all men are supposed to be treated equally, racism may be more prevalant than ever. For fear that the men may get off, in this predominately white county, Carl Lee guns the two down at the courthouse, killing them both.
In this 1996 drama, directed by Joel Schumacher, you will see many great actors and actresses, such as Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey and Kiefer and Donald Sutherland, to name a few. You will malso see Matthew McConaughey who plays Jake Brigance, a white lawyer, who Carl Lee hires to represent him.
Can Carl Lee get a fair trial in a town that is only 26-30% blacks? Will justice prevail for Carl Lee and little Tonya, or will it prevail for Billy Ray Cobb and James Lewis Willard, the two menn that Carl Lee gunned down?
In my opinion this film deserves five stars. It not only has a plot which keeps the viewer's interest all the way through the long 150 minute running time, but it also has a very emotional ending. If you like a drama film, that will not only keep your attention, with a great cast, but also forces you to examine your own views regarding racism, then you will love this film as much as I have loved it!
|
