A Time To Kill

One way to get a near perfect rendition of a book into a movie is to get the casting correct.  And most directors have a favourite casting director.  With Joel Schumacher it would be one Mali Finn.  Finn has most JS movies to his credit and other big names such as The Untouchables and Hot Shots to his credit.  He had also done The Client (John Grisham) with JS before this one.

So I am going to stick my neck out and say this.  Joel Schumacher had nothing much to do with the success of A Time to Kill.  Full credit must be given to Mali Finn for having picked up the perfect people to do the job for JS.  After picking the cast, Mali had to just hand over a copy of the John Grisham bestseller to these actors.  Each one of them did what was expected of them after that.

 

For those unfamiliar with the story of A Time to Kill, it is yet another John Grisham Courtroom Drama.  This time, he tells a story that is gut-wrenching to say the least.  Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L Jackson) is an African American worker who is barely able to make ends meet for his family.  Two drunk rednecks rape his 10 year old daughter Tonya Hailey (as RaéVen Larrymore Kelly) and then attempt to murder her.

 

All of this in Canton, Mississippi; where a black man can forget about all hopes for justice.  Knowing this, Carl Lee decides to take matters into his own hands and as the accused are being bought into court, lets them have the wrong end of a shotgun.  He then asks Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) to defend him in court.  Brigance had helped Hailey’s brother defend a case in the past.

 

Watch A Time to Kill for some superb acting.  There is barely anyone in the cast who puts a foot wrong through the 2 hours.  Even the characters with small roles such as Deputy Dwayne Powell Looney are played by strong actors – in this case Chris Cooper.  The main characters are played by Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, Ashely Judd, Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland.  Do you have any doubts about the talent on display.

 

I don’t mean to take anything away from Joel Schumacher with what I said earlier.  But one cannot help but wonder if he really had to do anything.  From frame one you see that each of the characters including Ashley Judd who has a small role just knows what is to be done.  Needless to say, if you get an opportunity to see this one, it is totally worth it.  7 on 10 from my side.

 

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hfTnum9fVA