A Time to Kill is the name of the 1996 feature
film adaptation of John Grisham's 1989
legal thriller A Time to Kill. The movie
was regarded as a commercial success, taking nearly $110 million at the box office.[1]
Set in fictional Clanton, Mississippi, the film revolves around the rape of a young girl
and the subsequent arrest and assassination of the rapists by the girl's father, Carl Lee Hailey. The remainder of the film then
focuses on the trial of Carl Lee Hailey for murder.
Plot summary
Two white racist Canton, Mississippi men (actors Nicky Katt and Doug Hutchison) come across a 10-year-old black girl
named Tonya (Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly). They violently rape Tonya
and dump her in a nearby river, but she survives to report the crime and the men are arrested. Word spreads of the brutal
rape.
Tonya's father, Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson), seeks out Jake Brigance
(Matthew McConaughey), an easygoing white lawyer. Carl Lee is worried that the men
may be acquitted, due to deep-seated racism. Brigance admits the possibility. Hailey acquires an
AK-47, goes to the county courthouse and opens fire killing both rapists and unintentionally injuring Deputy Looney
(Chris Cooper), with a ricochet. He is soon arrested without resistance.
Brigance takes up Hailey's defence pro bono. He intends to enter a plea of not
guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The rape and subsequent revenge killing gain national media attention, and the
Ku Klux Klan begins to organize in the area. A brother of one of the dead rapists, Freddie
Lee Cobb (Kiefer Sutherland), calls Brigance and his family with death threats. The
district attorney, Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey), decides to seek the death penalty. Presiding judge Judge Omar Noose (Patrick
McGoohan), denies Jake a change of venue to a different county.
Jake seeks help for his defense team from sleazy divorce lawyer Harry Rex Vonner
(Oliver Platt). He seeks guidance from long-time liberal activist Lucien Wilbanks
(Donald Sutherland), a great civil
rights lawyer who was disbarred for violence on a picket line. Jake's secretary, Ethel (Brenda Fricker), is wary
of the racially explosive case.
Jake is then approached by Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock), a fiery Massachusetts ACLU liberal. At first Jake is reluctant to accept Ellen's cooperation, but later agrees to
let Ellen help with the case.
The trial begins amid much attention from the media and public. The KKK, who has a member
inside the sheriff's department, burns a cross on Jake's lawn, forcing Jake to send his wife and young daughter away while the
trial continues. The KKK later march down Clanton's streets, meeting a large group of mostly black protestors at the courthouse.
Chaos ensues outside the courthouse as the police lose control of the crowd. A black teenager hits the KKK Grand Dragon with a
Molotov cocktail, burning him to death.
Jake's attraction to Roark grows, and they almost have an affair before Jake gains his wits and goes home - to find that
arsonists have burned down his house. Soon after, Freddie Lee Cobb shoots at Jake as he exits the courthouse, but misses and hits
a national guardsman policing demonstrations.
Roark is abducted by Klansmen working with a racist sheriff's deputy, Willie Hastings (Mark Whitman
Johnson), and is beaten, tied to a stake in the wilderness, and left for dead. She is saved by the informant "Mickey
Mouse", whose identity is revealed as one of the Klansmen, Tim Nunley (John Diehl), working
with Cobb. The next morning, Jake sits on the still-smoking steps of his house and meets with Harry Rex, who says it's time to
quit the case. Jake refuses, saying that to quit now would make his sacrifices meaningless.
When the jury secretly discusses the case in a restaurant (against the judge's
instructions), all but one are leaning toward a guilty verdict, and Carl Lee's fate looks sealed. Jake goes to see Roark in a hospital
and feels terrible for her. He is then comforted by his wife, who has returned. Out of options, Jake goes to see Carl Lee in his
jail cell and advises copping a plea. Carl Lee refuses, and tells Brigance that his views on
justice and race are wrong. "America is a wall," he says, "and you're on the other side."
The courthouse is packed to see the attorneys' closing arguments. Jake tells the jury to close their eyes and listen to a
story. He describes, in slow and painful detail, the rape of a young 10-year-old girl—mirroring Tonya's rape. His final comment
to the jury is to imagine the victim was white.
Hours later, after deliberation, a young black boy runs out of the courthouse and screams "He's innocent!" Jubilation ensues
amongst hundreds of supporters outside. Sheriff Ozzie Walls (Charles S. Dutton),
arrests Freddie Lee, his racist deputy Willie Hastings, and a Klansman called "Winston" (Tim
Parati).
Jake brings his wife and daughter to a family cookout at Carl Lee's house. Carl Lee is surprised and standoffish. Jake
explains, "I thought maybe our children could play together," and Carl Lee smiles.
Cast & Crew
Trivia
- Kiefer Sutherland and father Donald Sutherland do not appear in any scenes together in the movie.
- Kiefer and Sandra Bullock were dating at the time.
- John Grisham has worked with director Joel
Schumacher before on the film adaptation of The Client with Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. While only his book was the
basis for his involvement with that film, Grisham took an active role in this film's production as a producer. The reason, as
Grisham explained it, was that A Time to Kill was his first book and the favorite one out of all of his works, and he
wanted to see its adaptation done to his standards.
- There were several names being mentioned for the part of Jake Brigance before it went to Matthew McConaughey such as Val Kilmer, John Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Aidan Quinn and Brad Pitt. Woody
Harrelson had lobbied for the part and Kevin Costner was close to being cast, but
Grisham axed Costner because the actor wanted complete control of the project. McConaughey was originally going to play Freddie
Lee Cobb, but put his hat in the ring by speaking to Joel Schumacher and convincing him
to let him audition. Schumacher videotaped the audition and decided that McConaughey was right for the part. He then approached
Grisham and showed him the audition, which sold Grisham on casting him.
- Bruce Dern was the original choice for the role of Judge Omar Noose. However,
Patrick McGoohan was cast when he proved unavailable.
- Samuel L. Jackson's line of "Yes, they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in Hell!" from the movie was used repeatedly in
the ads and trailers, and has become a well known line by Jackson.
References
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=timetokill.htm
See also
External links
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