On the other side, you have Kevin Spacey playing the prosecutor, Rufus Buckley.īuckley is currently the district attorney but has ambitions to become governor. On one side, you have McConaughey playing the defense attorney. With that, you now have what is squaring up to be a courtroom drama. The Black residents live on the outskirts of town and while their houses aren’t ramshackle, they seem to be older and less fancy or well-maintained.Ĭarl Lee appeals to Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) a local lawyer who had previously done some legal work for his brother. The White residents mostly live within the town in what appear to be nicer homes. It seems as though up to this point there might not have been open hostility in the town between the two races. With that Carl now finds himself on trial for his vigilante act. He intended to kill the two young men but not harm the police officer who was hit in the crossfire. Opening fire on the men, Carl kills them both and wounds a member of law enforcement who was helping to provide security. Taking matters into his own hands Carl arrives at the courthouse when the two guys are going to be arraigned. With that in mind, Carl has little faith that his daughter will be able to get justice in a town like his. There was a similar case in another nearby town where four White young men raped a Black girl and got away with the crime. Jackson), Tonya’s father, is concerned for his daughter’s safety and health. Fortunately, she’s found and taken to a hospital where she survives her injuries.Ĭarl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Assaulting, raping, and attempting to hang her before leaving her for dead. The pair are merely a nuisance at first but things take a turn when they come across Tonya who is walking alone on what I would consider a desolate road. They’re two raggedy-looking White guys driving around annoying and pestering residents of the Black community within this town. Billy Ray Cobb (Nicky Katt) and Pete Willard (Doug Hutchison) have mullets but let’s not stereotype. Media YouTube VideoĪ young Black girl, Tonya (Rae’Ven Larrymore Kelly), is walking home from buying groceries and runs into two White men who are out joyriding and causing trouble. The pair face off against a prosecutor who is hoping to use the case to advance his career and the murdered men’s supporters who are seeking revenge for their deaths. Needing legal representation, he seeks the help of a local lawyer with a struggling law practice. A courtroom drama, A Time to Kill follows the case of a Black man who is on trial for murdering two racist White men who viciously attacked and raped his daughter. He is never paid from the funds the local churches and the NAACP allegedly raised for Carl Lee's defense.A Time to Kill is a 1996 film based on a book by John Grisham that takes place in a relatively small community in Mississippi. Jake is only paid $900 for his services in the book. Jake and Carl Lee aren't friends in the novel, and while Jake does attend a barbecue at the Hailey residence after the trial, it's with Harry Rex and not with his family. Carl Lee's brother Lester, who is a a semi-prominent character in the book but unseen in the movie, convinces Carl Lee to rehire Jake. Jake is booted off the case at one point in the novel in favor of a prominent Memphis lawyer. In fact, at times he seems to disdain Buckley. Judge Noose is not as adversarial to Jake in the novel as he is in the movie, and he certainly is not in the pocket of Rufus Buckley. Deputy Hastings is a black character in the novel, and by extension he does not join the KKK with Freddie Lee Cobb. Roark is also introduced much later in the story, and she is not present at the death of Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard. Jake hires Roark more or less on the spot in the novel. Lucien is much more of a radical character, and while Jake respects him and seeks advice from him, they do not have the father/son relationship as in the movie. Ethel Twitty, Jake's secretary, has an antagonistic relationship with Jake in the novel and he considers her to be terrible at her job. A stuttering janitor is one of the very few witnesses. Carl Lee does not shoot the two rapists in the courthouse rotunda in full view of a crowd, but rather in a back stairway. The novel is set in the fictional town of "Clanton," as opposed to the real city of Canton.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |