A Time To Kill

I was pretty stunned at how bad this movie was. I wasn't emotionally involved one bit even from the beginning. ***SPOILER ALERT*** And that whole thing with Kiefer Sutherland was plain silly. Does anyone believe the Klan still blindfolds people like that to take them to their secret hideaway? And didn't it occur to any of the moviemakers that maybe McConaughey and Bullock weren't being entirely ethical when she broke into a doctor's office and rifled through confidential patient records, only to have him reveal them in open court? Just what was it that changed the evil jury foreman's mind, anyway? And why is everyone so sweaty all th time? Apparently it never occurred to anyone--John Grisham on down--that maybe you could think you'd do the same thing Samuel L. Jackson does, *and still think he should be punished.* Astonishingly bad.

Too bad. The book was astonishly good and I always thought it would make a good movie. It's really not a made for a movie book like The Firm or Grisham's other books. Do you think this is part of the reason why it bombed so badly. So, Josh, do you think I should: a. go see it anyway? b. wait till it comes out on videotape and rent it? c. wait till it comes to HBO? d. wait till it is the NBC movie of the week?

Tough call. If you liked the book, you might like the movie. The acting is by and large good (despite Keifer Sutherland's scene-chewing), and I gather it's a pretty faithful adaptation. I think most of the problems I had with the movie are things it inherited from the book, so if you didn't have those same problems, I could see how you would enjoy the movie. Maybe it's worth a dollar movie or a cheap matinee?

Terry, I read the book and saw the movie. I must admit that the book was my favorite Grisham book (I've read them all) and the movie was my favorite Grisham adaptation (I've seen them all.) I found the movie to be very good and I would definitely recommend your seeing it. I especially liked the way the closing argument was done. Very moving. -Stefanie