To Kill a Mockingbird is essentially a straight re-telling of Harper Lee's book of the same name.

It's no surprise that the story is wonderfully well-told, emotionally investing, and just full of interesting, unique and likeable characters. It's difficult for me to count that as a positive point for the film though. I suppose the film didn't change anything major about that story, which is good.

On the film's own merits though, Gregory Peck just makes such a strong presence as Atticus, and pretty much the entire cast is as I imagined them in the original book. I may have imagined Arthur to be a little more decrepit than he did, but other than that, I thought all the characters looked and acted pretty spot-on.

Most importantly, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those films that denies all the notions people have of old movies being boring and new movies being exciting. This film may not have generic action in it, but the story is just so engaging that it will keep you involved from beginning to end.