A Time To Kill (1996) based off the John Grisham novel. Stars an All-Star Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, Charles S. Dutton, Donald Sutherland, Nicky Katt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Ashley Judd.
In Mississippi, Pete Willard and Billy Ray brutally rape 10 year old Tonya Hailey. Her father, Carl Lee (Samuel L. Jackson), kills them both prior to trial and gets defended by Jake Brigance (McConaughey) and his assistant, Harry Vonner (Oliver Platt) & new arrival Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock) while D.A. Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey) is on the other side.
Joel Schumacher does a very good job directing this and getting good performances from every actor (maybe not hard to do given the cast but he has a lot on his plate story wise). He also utilizes some memorable shots and does a better job not quite making either side pure good or pure evil. While Batman & Robin tarnished him, it's pretty clear from other films that he is a really good director with the right material and this is a fine showcase of that.
At times, McConaughey does seem a little overshadowed by the cast and actors around him. He's solid but never quite seems to rise to the level of Spacey acting as the D.A. opposite him (or many of the other actors such as Samuel L. Jackson). Part of that is his Southern Good Ol' Boy charm, while accurate for the setting of the film, doesn't quite seem to fit his lawyer character. At times it feels like his character is far more nuanced but the acting doesn't quite get there in reflecting it. Compare his acting to Matt Damon's in over his head lawyer in The Rainmaker as an example.
The racial tensions are a necessary addition and help add a running undercurrent to everything happening within & more importantly, outside of, the court room reminding me some of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's never beaten over the head of the viewer but almost every scene does use of it subtly and sometimes overtly such as the inclusion of the Ku Klux Klan. Just over 20 years later and a lot of this rings true in today's society although less on the nose in the case of Kiefer Sutherland's character & KKK uprising.
The inclusion of the N.A.A.C.P. was also a necessity but felt kind of dragging as well. The entirety of that subplot felt like it could've been whittled down to just one scene while getting across the same message and helping tighten up the pacing of the film.
Overall, a stronger film than the year after's The Rainmaker both plot and acting wise but I felt like I enjoyed the latter more on a personal level. This seemed to have almost too much going on to the point that, at times, it seemed to get away from the actual case underpinning the entire movie. I also feel that McConaughey was somewhat miscast in the lead role, despite fitting the setting, as he couldn't quite match the talent around him and it showed.
7.5/10