A Time to Kill--Netflix review of this 1996 film
There are some themes that trigger me especially when they involve children and I run way from consuming media about those stories. I made an exception with this film mainly because the day I watched it, I was too tired to change it after an unsuccessful attempt at finding something worth watching on Netflix. You know how it is when there is so much and nothing at the same time to watch? That was me that day feeling like there was an oversaturated of content but with nothing striking in depth or visual appeal.
I'll give a little spoiler to say it ends well and so I am glad I watched it. This of course is in the sense of the general mood of the film and the success the characters attain, It is another matter when you talk about the true success of the little girl who was raped by members of the KKK because such an event takes a long time of healing and unravelling for anyone to call it a success story.
Since this is a movie review, I'll stick with that and continue. A time to kill is a story of a little African American girl who was kidnapped by two unruly white men on her way home on day. She was beaten, spat at, raped and then left for dead until she was rescued and brought home.
The two men; Billy Ray Cobb and James Willard were arrested and this is where the story really begins for me. Do you know I almost thought they would not be arrested? Yea, I thought it was that kind of film where I'd have to watch deeply rooted racial segregation prevent the first act of justice from even occurring. I know I said I was too lazy to switch to something else, but I would have done so if this film was going to go in that direction. I had strength for that.
Tonya's father was Carl Lee Hailey acted by Samuel L Jackson and he was a man ready to spill the blood of these men. He first of all got himself a lawyer--interestingly not a black one but a white and empathetic lawyer Jake Brigance with a little girl of his own to represent him and help his daughter. This was acted by Matthew McConaughey. By the way, this film is based on a book by John Grisham of the same name.
It was meant to be story of a man who wanted to see men brought to justice but as it turned out, Carl Lee had seen too many times how evil men just because of the color of their skin were let off the hook and in blinding rage, he puled out a gun one day and shot these vile men. This turned everything on its head and became a story of the prosecuting lawyer Rufus Buckley acted by Kevin Spacey seeking the death penalty for him versus Brigance who pleaded on insanity even though we are all aware that this was premeditated.
As I watched this film, I had a running tab of internal monologues as moral questions sprang up in my mind. It is easy to abstract the life as portrayed in films like this when we read them in the news and so on, but when you watch or live in the context of these stories, it's not very easy to have a moral judgement of what a man should do. Would you not be tempted to kill people who defiled your little girl especially when you could have heard a detailed recounting of how they did it? Especially when the doctors say she would never be able to have children of her own because of her injuries? What would a man do in this case.
As you can tell, this film was emotionally tasking, heartbreaking and jarring at the evil lengths the KKK went through as they tried to scare of the defending lawyer. From burning his home and kidnapping his assistant Sandra Bullock. I did not mention a young Sandra Bullock acts in this film. That's just a side note. It was pleasant to see her nonetheless.
From a movie critic's perspective, this film was excellently done because I was so caught up in the story I did not notice any flaws if they were any. I also am pleased to say that this is another one of the old classics that I have added to my collection of 'already watched' because as you know(if you have been reading my reviews so far) I am on a hunt to watch old movies I missed because of my age at the time they were made or non availability in later years.
I'll give it a high rating of 10/10.
Oh yes, this is a classic. I saw it in a movie theater, I don't remember which one, it no longer exists in my town. The late Schumacher did a good job bringing this novel to film. Matthew McConaughey who was focused on making lighter films, gave his first signs that he would be a great. Bullock, pretty, young and surgery-free, could still be expressive and Jackson was excellent in his role as a father who takes the law into his own hands after seeing how blind justice was.
It was truly amazing. I didn't remember to talk about the ending but it brought tears to my eyes when Brigance brought his little girl to 'their neighborhood' to prove Jackson wrong that he didn't belong or he was just like 'them'. There was so much meaning in that lingering stare before Samuel's face cracked into a smile.
I have never watch this movie, or it seems it is a very old movies
Excellent write-up of a classic film. This movie stirs many emotions, but devastation and heartbreak over cruelty and injustice are the feelings that resurface immediately as I read your words. Really nicely done :)