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A Time to Kill

6.6

14,145

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2 Related Movies

Related to:

Ghosts of Mississippi

Related to:

Mississippi Burning

Original title

A Time to Kill

Year

1996

Running time

149 min.

Country

United States

Director

Joel Schumacher

Screenwriter

Akiva Goldsman. Novel: John Grisham

Cast

Music

Elliot Goldenthal

Cinematography

Peter Menzies Jr.

Producer

Warner Bros., Regency Enterprises, Arnon Milchan Production

Genre

Drama. Thriller | Courtroom Drama / Lawyers. Southern Gothic. Racism

Movie Groups

John Grisham Adaptations

Synopsis

Matthew McConaughey, a young, attractive and highly-skilled attorney is faced with the toughest case of his life, one that on many occassions may also threaten it. In the southern Mississippi town of Canton, the K.K.K. is active and the tension is high when the black majority is angered at the raping and slaying of a black man's 10-year-old daughter. Against Jake's advice, the distraught father takes revenge, gunning down the two criminals in the local courthouse. Racial hatred hightens with the suspense and conflict threatens to break out regardless of the verdict. Jake must decide, along with his new, eager assisstant whether he and his family can run the risk of defending the man.

Awards: 1996: Golden Globes: Nominated Best Supporting Actor in Motion Picture (Jackson)

1996: Razzie Awards: Nominated for Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million

1996: Chicago Film Critics Awards: Nominated Most Promising Actor (McConaughey)

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Critics' reviews

"A skillfully constructed morality play that pushes all the right buttons and arrives at all the right conclusions (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"Although it has its share of implausibilities, A Time To Kill is generally the most satisfying of the John Grisham screen adaptations to date."

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"Despite certain drawbacks, A Time to Kill is involving, energetic, and occasionally thought-provoking."

James Berardinelli: ReelViews
"A handsome but riotously cluttered melodrama with maybe 145 subplots."

Mike Clark: USA Today
"A courtroom thriller daring to venture into the grey areas of the law (...) Intelligent, sexy, and reliably gripping (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Ian Nathan: Empire
"Justice may be blind, but rarely have courtroom dramas presumed quite so heavily on cultural myopia as this heinous version of John Grisham's first novel (...) An insulting travesty"

Geoff Andrew: Time Out

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User history

A Time to Kill

1996

Joel Schumacher

6.6

(14,145)