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.
Comment
02/09/06
A Time to Kill (1996)
69
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:48
Fresh:33
Rotten:15
Average Rating:6.1/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: This adaptation of John Grisham's bestseller takes place in the small town of Canton, Mississippi, where two White rednecks kidnap, rape and savagely beat a young Black girl. The men are caught,... [More]
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock
Director: Joel Schumacher
Reviews for A Time to Kill
Top CriticA gritty, intense and engaging courtroom drama.
06/14/09
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/09/05
No review available.
04/12/02
Top CriticWhat craven offal!
06/14/09
Top CriticDumbed down debate on the death penalty.
07/23/03
Like many artists today, Grisham and Schumacher exploit racial tension without understanding it.
01/01/00
Director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman seem incapable of emphasizing what's important and relegating the rest to secondary status.
01/01/00
There is so much plot crammed into this 21/2-hour thriller that instead of an epic, ensemble tale of racism in modern America, it becomes an episodic, skim-the-surface series of melodramatic skits.
01/01/00
Never has a 145-minute film been less thrilling and more predictable.
01/01/00
Nothing more than an entry in Matthew McConaughey's filmography.
02/14/03
Looks aren't enough. In the lead, McConaughey isn't there.
07/04/04
Insight into black/white relations is superficial -- disappointing when you consider that the moral of the story is supposed to be how large a role race plays in the execution of justice.
05/14/03
This may be a case where you have to read the book to appreciate the film, but if that's true, the film hasn't done its job.
03/16/03
There are no surprises here except for the indecipherable motivations and exacting length of two hours and twenty minutes.
06/05/02
Only a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman could make things worse--and lo and behold, speak of the devil and Old Scratch appears.
04/01/09
With Joel Schumacher's tasteful but second-rate-Sidney-Lumet direction and Akiva Goldsman's nuts-and-bolts script, these boys have created a surprisingly stirring indictment of racism.
08/13/06
No review available.
08/22/03
Latest News for A Time to Kill
November 24, 2006:
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Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman is allegedly earning a $4 million dollar paycheck for his adaptation of Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons," which features the... More...
May 23, 2006:
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Yesterday we shared the news that the "Da Vinci Code" prequel was being discussed, and today comes word that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman will definitely be returning.... More...
April 15, 2005:
Zooey Prepares for "Launch"
The Hollywood Reporter gets with the reporting by informing us of "Failure to Launch," an upcoming romantic comedy from Paramount. The blue-eyed Zooey Deschanel... More...
March 24, 2005:
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It’s been a while since Sandra Bullock’s last appearance on the big screen – 2002’s romantic comedy hit, “Two Weeks Notice,” co-starring Hugh Grant. She returns with “Miss... More...
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