"Yes they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell!"      

A TIME TO KILL (R) 

Based on John Grisham's novel of the same name, A Time To Kill tells the story of Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), a young Mississippi lawyer defending Carl Lee Haley (Samuel L. Jackson), a man charged with the murder of two men who brutally raped his ten-year old daughter. Brigance is assisted along the way by Ellen Roark, an energetic young law student (Sandra Bullock), as well as his under-achieving lawyer friend Harry Rex Vonner (Oliver Platt) and his discredited alcoholic ex-lawyer mentor Lucien Wilbanks (Donald Sutherland).  Kevin Spacey plays Rufus Buckley, the experienced, ambitious D.A. out to convict Carl Lee for the murders.

Okay, enough with the formalities.  A Time To Kill is the fourth John Grisham novel adapted into celluloid (the other three were The Firm, The Client, and The Pelican Brief), and of these A Time To Kill may be the best yet.  All the performances were strong, the direction was clean, and the story's retelling (from book to movie) surprisingly faithful.  (No changed endings like in The Firm...) As with many of Grisham's stories, A Time To Kill touches on a number of philosophical-legal issues.  What is justice--is it doing "what's right" or doing "what's legal"?  Does it apply to everyone equally?  Those interested in hashing out those issues will have a lot of material to work with from A Time To Kill.  For those of us who simply like well-made courtroom dramas, this movie also has a good deal to offer.

A Time To Kill is a "serious" movie with few if any moments of levity.  It's also an excellent one. See it when you're in the mood for a good drama...

IMPRESSIONS

Moral of the Movie: it ain't over 'till the dog comes home...

Question left unanswered: is it Rork or Ro-ahrk?

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!!

rvlomax@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "It's a very, very good movie with a lot of suspence, drama and humor." (5/8/99)

cyber gives this movie  stars. (3/8/99)

jjlfeagle@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "To tell anybody the truth, I've had to rate this movie 5 stars, because of the characters, plot, and picture. The right people were selected for the characters, because of the way they played them. It also had a really good plot to it, because it does have a good point to it. I think the main point of the movie teaches a lesson to it's viewers. I like the lesson it is teaching, because i'm really tired of racist people. After watching the movie, I thought deeply about racism and would recommend to anybody experiencing feelings of being prejudice to watch this movie. It might change their thinking." (9/10/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "An emotional and passionate film with brilliant performances and good plot." (2/7/98)

Stacey gives this movie  stars. (11/28/97)

Richard Butterfield gives this movie  stars. (11/24/97)

cmyers@vyvx.com gives this movie  stars: "Clearly one of the most passionate, most thought-provoking, all around wonderful film. I enjoyed the book more than any other of Grisham's and was extremely please at the adaptation to film. None of his other books were even done justice by film, but this was a work of art. And the fact that Matthew McConaughey is heaven on earth sure did not hurt. The sexual friction between him and Sandra Bullock was sweet, graceful, and honest. Not consumating these feelings only made it more intriguing. If I could have rated it 10 stars I would have." (11/20/97)

Nicnyk1@aol.com gives this movie  stars. (9/4/97)

Dreamer@sktc.net gives this movie  stars: "Movies about racism really draw me in, and end up pissing me off :) I hate when people are racist, but I've always been drawn to that kind of movie. My favorite part: When Matthew gave the speech to the jury and told them to close their eyes. I closed my eyes and followed along, and I thought I was going to bawl!! Good movie!" (8/6/97)

Bballmstr3@aol.com gives this movie  stars. (7/26/97)

bvarnell@surfsouth.com gives this movie  stars: "A great movie. It was better than the book." (7/13/97)

anonymous entry gives this movie  stars: "This movie was excellent, in my opinion. I gave it 5 stars simply for the fact that it was very intense and got you totally focused on what was happening. It lured you in and trapped you so that you have no where to hide when the sad parts come along. You can only feel personal grief for the characters. It had a good plot, and you could understand what it was about. It talks about many philosophical views, and opens up new ways of thinking for the closed- minded. I would strongly reccomend to see this movie, if you haven't already done so." (7/12/97)