A Time to Kill

Rating:
Summary: The truth shall set you free!
Review: I've seen this movie twice. The first time was in a collegecourse, where we were asked to pick out the stereotypes. They werepretty obvious. It makes me wonder if Mississippi is really like this, and if it is that's sad. I could see where Hailey (Jackson) was coming from. He knew there couldn't be any justice for the rape of his daughter because he was black. He decided to take the law into his own hands. Had that been me in the same situation, I might have done the same thing. He picked Brigance as a lawyer, because he knew that Jake could make the jury see things different. In the end when Jake gave his closing statement, he knew he had to make the jury see things in their own eyes, to imagine at first it was a white girl. This was a brilliant movie, that makes me thing twice before I do things.

Rating:
Summary: Movies Don't Get Any Better Than This
Review: This movie did not receive the credit it deserves. Excellent script, the best casting job I've ever seen and superior acting. This movie is in my top 5 and I recommend everyone see it.

Rating:
Summary: Let's Not Kill, But Let's Watch This Anyway
Review: I reveal extremely important details of A Time to Kill in this review, so if that would ruin the movie for you, please don't read on.

Samuel Jackson plays Carl Lee Hailey. Hailey kills 2 men who raped and almost killed his little girl, Tonya. It is up to Jake Brigance, played by Mathew McConaughey, to try to keep Carl Lee from either spending the rest of his life in prison or being put to death.

McConaughey and Jackson give us great performances and so does most of the supporting cast. Kevin Spacey plays the prosecutor, who you might like and hate at the same time, with the brilliant flare I have grown accustomed to. Sandra Bullock is good enough, as the assistant to Brigance and Kiefer Sutherland is excellent as the racist, revenge-oriented brother of one of the rapists. Other actors who give good or great performances include: Donald Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd, Patrick McGoohan, and Chris Cooper.

I agree with and like the racial messages in this movie, and think that they were very well implemented. I don't think the average person realizes how much racism there really is. It's not just in the Ku Klux Klan, a bunch of skinheads or even the bigoted "Archie Bunker" living next door. It's in you and it's in me. Until most of us realize that, and make a concerted effort to do something about it, racism will continue to live strong in this world.

I like A Time to Kill a whole lot; it's actually one of my 50 favorite films of all time, but I wouldn't feel like I was writing a complete review if I didn't share my disagreement with the main message this movie seems to convey. That message, the way I see it, is that it is ok to take the law into your own hands, to break the law in order to execute your own version of justice in the form of murder, before the system has even had a chance to succeed or fail.

If this case happened in real life, I would be very disappointed in the jury for acquitting Carl Lee. I view a jury's duty to follow the law as being similar to a country's duty to follow the principle of freedom of speech. These two ideas are opposites in a way but the philosophies and significance to society are very much similar.

We shouldn't censor a statement just because we disagree with it; in fact we should support the right to say it, or freedom of speech won't work. For very similar reasons, we should not condone someone breaking the law just because we empathize with that person. "I'd have done it too, if it was my daughter!" A big problem with this way of thinking is: who is to decide what laws should be broken, and for what reason? You? Me? How about a member of the Ku Klux Klan? No to all. We should tell all people to not break the law, and if they do, they should be held accountable by the law, except in rare circumstances. If Carl Lee was legally insane when he committed the murder, I would not be complaining; but he wasn't, and the Jury knew that.

And what if the murdered suspects are innocent? You can't even partially undo that kind of injustice. In A Time to Kill, the viewer sees the crime that Carl Lee is responding to; in real life, however, it is usually not that clear cut. If you take the law into your own hands, killing the accused, you are not only breaking one of our most important laws, you might just be murdering an innocent person.

A Time to Kill is an entertaining movie that makes people think long and hard about very important issues, which is great; I just hope it doesn't inspire too many people to take the law into their own hands by either committing a crime, or exonerating those who do.

Jeremy Barger

END

Rating:
Summary: It's Time to Watch, my friends!
Review: This movie is superb. Just peachy. And I'm not being sarcastic. This film depicts the prejudice and discrimination which unforunately still lingers in today's society. Carl Lee Haley (Sammy L Jackson, one good actor) openfires on two rednecks who rape and nearly kill his ten year old daughter, and so faces the wrath of his Southern peers on trial. A big plus in this one is Matty McConaughey, which I have only three words for: HOT HOT HOT! In my opinion, his presence justifies going out and at least renting this flick. So what time is it? A time to go out and see A Time to Kill? You betcha!

Rating:
Summary: Who Needs Courts? Let's All Grab Rifles And Do It Ourselves
Review: This film has been praised for looking at the situation of vigilante justice without giving any easy answers. On the contrary, the deck is stacked up against the prosecutor from the very start. Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor and he gets all the juice he can out of this performance. But please, haven't we seen the politically motivated DA one too many times? Why not have a DA who actually questions the prosecution of the defendant? You know, a real person, not a "bad guy." No, the audience needs a bad guy to snicker at, so let's bring in the KKK. True, Jackson did gun down two men in cold blood, but he had his reasons, so it's okay. Now that the KKK is here, they've turned this into an issue of race rather than of right and wrong. It's one thing to empathize with Jackson's character, it's another to say it's perfectly all right to kill those you feel deserve to die because, well, according to you, they deserve it. Even the innocent bystander whose legs he shot off forgave him and told the jury to let him go. Wow, that really made you wonder what the outcome of the trial was going to be. There is a good movie to be made that deals with justice, the courts, and recovering from tragedy, sadly, this isn't it. Is it just me, or does this film give a fairly bleak view of humanity, considering the message is "Violence is the only answer to our problems." I would much rather have seen the movie deal with the recovery of the little girl and the way it affects the family, but the people WANT BLOOD. And they get plenty of that. And since the father is found not guilty, the last shot of the movie is the little girl smiling with McConaughy's daughter, see, one good court decision and she forgets everything. The acting in this film particularly the leads, is terrific, and raises it above one star level, otherwise, this is best left on the shelves to gather dust or something else that's useful.

Rating:
Summary: Gets better each time
Review: I saw this movie shortly after it came to video and thought it was a pretty good movie. Then a couple years later, I saw it again. And it just kind of stuck in my brain. I'll be reading or listening to something, and it will remind me of the movie. In conversations I bring up this film all the time because it is so relevant to important issues of our time. Racism, vigilante action, legal issues, etc. The more you watch this movie, the more it makes you think.

And if you're not interested in thinking about some of the larger philosophical issues at hand, there's still plenty of stuff for you. You've got Matthew McConaughey who does a phenomenal job, and looks great while at it. Oliver Platt imbues his character with just the right amount of sleaze and charm that you can't help but love him. Donald Sutherland is absolutely lovable as the old-school gentleman (and you and your friends can argue over whether he's a lush or or a drunk/alcoholic). Sandra Bullock does a believable job, and the men tend to find Ashley Judd rather attractive in this role. And let's not forget Samuel L. Jackson, who makes his character so real that you understand the situation he's in and why he does what he does.

So basically, there's something for everyone here. Thinking stuff with good looking people (male and female) who act well. Can't go wrong with this one.

Rating:
Summary: Undecided
Review: I thought the movie was a good watch, but some of the stereotypes were overdone. I mean, I am from Mississippi (where this movie takes place) and for your information, just because we don't live in New York City doesn't mean we are hicks or rednecks, and the KKK isn't as prevalent as it is made out to be in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Film
Review: This classic film is necessarily violent, but makes up for this in its wonderful storyline. This is one of those movies that make you want to get up and shout with joy at the end.

Very moving, very timely, very well-written and acted. America's racism needs to be exposed, and discussed, and this movie allows us to never forget where this country has come from. It also leaves us with hope of how this country can redeem itself and provide a better future for all people, regardless of race.

Rating:
Summary: Non-Stop Tension
Review: It's been a long time since this great a job was done with turning a best selling novel into a motion picture with a superb ensemble cast. A Time To Kill reminds us all of what good acting and excellent story-telling are all about.

Matthew McConaughey, in what seemed to be his breakthrough role, is our young defender ~ quick thinking and intelligent, and OH SO HANDSOME! Sandra Bullock is the legal aid doing all she can to prove that her savy smarts will help win this case of the decade. Samuel L. Jackson plays the tormented man imprisoned for murdering in cold blood his young daughter's rapists. Ashley Judd turns in a powerful performance as Matthew's wife. Donald Sutherland and Dustin Hoffman, perfect in their roles as older attorneys are seriously convincing.

Each scene is dramatic, tightly wound and fully charged with emotional sparks. The climax in the courtroom will floor you.

This is a good film to own, as you will enjoy viewing it more than once.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The book was a bestseller -- now see for yourself why. This story will rock you and shock you, with fine performance by Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and of course Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson. The climax is stunning and will make you shake with the reality of racism in this country. A Time to Kill is one for your video libraries.