Synopsis
Experience a time you'll never forget.
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
1996 Directed by Joel Schumacher
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
Matthew McConaughey Sandra Bullock Samuel L. Jackson Kevin Spacey Ashley Judd Donald Sutherland Oliver Platt Charles S. Dutton Brenda Fricker Kiefer Sutherland Patrick McGoohan Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly Tonea Stewart John Diehl Chris Cooper Nicky Katt Doug Hutchison Kurtwood Smith Tim Parati Beth Grant Anthony Heald M. Emmet Walsh Octavia Spencer Darrin Mitchell LaConte McGrew Devin Lloyd Mark W. Johnson Joe Seneca Thomas Merdis Show All…
Roland N. Thai Hilda Hodges Adam Jenkins John Leveque Lee Lemont Mary Jo Lang Petur Hliddal Joe Divitale Fred Stafford
Aeg tappa, Vrijeme ubijanja, Metas zudyti, Tid for hevn, Vremea razbunarii, Cas za ubijanje, Čas zabiť
Politics and human rights Intense violence and sexual transgression Thrillers and murder mysteries racism, african american, powerful, hatred or slavery cops, murder, thriller, detective or crime murder, crime, drama, gripping or victim violence, shock, disturbing, brutal or graphic drama, marriage, family, emotional or emotion Show All…
Close your eyes...now imagine Joel Schumacher's sweat-drenched courtroom drama as the wettest, most insane, and most pro-death penalty movie of the 1990s. The entire message of this piece of liberal agitprop is that rape and racism are the worst evils imaginable and that extrajudicial murder, provided you're reasonably sure of the guilt of the parties in question, is justice.
It's probably deliberate, but this movie can't decide if it's set in 1996 or 1906. A complete travesty on so many levels, but also deliriously entertaining, it feels like it was made by aliens who learned about morality, the legal system and the American South through radio and tv signals that made it to deep space.
Probably my favorite scene is…
I mean yes they deserved to die, and of course I hope they burn in Hell, but everything here is calculated to remove the nuance of any moral argument for you rather than actually reckon with systemic oppression and/or vigilantism; everyone who advocates for Jackson's character's conviction is presented as a cartoonish, hissing racist...like the fucking judge's name is Noose for heaven's sakes. There's even a "fine people on both sides" streak of bullshit wherein the NAACP is presented as a bunch of opportunists seizing on tragedy for political ends. It feels like everyone involved with the making of this movie thought they had TO KILL ANOTHER MOCKINGBIRD on their hands -- a terrible idea on its face even hypothetically…
While it sometimes gets a bit too heavy handed for its own good, it is still a very good courtroom drama and maybe the best Grisham adaptation yet.
It manages to capture the sultry South of America fantastically. It has an oppressive, sticky feel to it that reflects and accompanies the proceedings really well.
Schumacher directs his wonderful cast really well and paces his film perfectly. Given the subject matter, he has done really well to not turn this into a cliched, cheesy affair.
The fact that both Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland are in this, don’t play relatives, and nobody comments on how they look exactly alike...interesting choice.
Never forget: The southern racist judge presiding over a capital murder case is named “Noose”
A bit of plodding, just in the right side of sanctimonious Grisham flick in which Samuel L. Jackson plays a poor black southern man who blows away the redneck pond scums that raped and almost murdered his ten year old girl, causing a somewhat friend, Matthew McConaughey, to take his case against a backdrop of racial hatred, intimidation, family breakdown etc…
There’s really no sense of urgency in this one. The only moments of meare satisfaction are the deaths of those two monsters who raped poor, young Tonya, and the predictable ending. The movie being two and a half hours long makes for a less taut and less thrilling portrayal of the American justice system. The big issue, namely colourblind…
The most interesting thing about A Time to Kill is how, despite taking place in the present day, it seems to situate racism outside of the world of its views. It takes place in a small, anonymous Mississippi town. It has a Black sheriff, yes, but its presentation is that of an anachronism, a place removed from the full tide of liberal progress. If the villains of the film are atavistic racists with vicious instincts — from snarling Klansmen to a white juror who doesn’t hesitate to use racial slurs — it is because, the film says, Mississippi is a backward place where the raw bigotry of the past still holds sway.
This sense is hammered home by the aesthetic of the…