A Time to Kill

A traditional southern Grisham film based on the 1988 novel of the same name. The film is a riveting courtroom drama with many pressing themes that are conveyed with equal verve in both mediums. Of the performances, Matthew McConaughey towers above all, especially in the final speech. Samuel L. Jackson is also great, but Sandra Bullock is just a poster attraction - her role is relatively small and just completes the all-star team. (05/04/2022)

Average, average, and more average. On the one hand, the great Samuel L. Jackson, the admirable "shark" Kevin Spacey, excellent (all of them) chilling scenes with the Ku Klux Klan and Goldenthal's chilling music along with them, but on the other hand we get Matthew McConaughey, who is not very believable, the completely unnecessary Sandra Bullock character (even more unnecessary than in the book), several downright ridiculous moments (the bomb, the shooting of the soldier...) and that sickeningly saccharine ending... Two and a half stars. (12/18/2011)

Joel Schumacher is a master of either strongly conflicting dramas or absolutely strange fantasies and anything else that is... weird. This means that one day, he shoots an absolutely amazing movie based on real-life events, but once he gets to a rather improbable and often fantastic story, he’s hopeless. Luckily, A Time To Kill is the first one of the two. What’s more, it’s based on a book, so it really can grab your attention for its lengthy 149 minutes. But that’s not only thanks to the director; Matthew McConaughey usurped a substantial part of the movie for himself. You could even say that it is literally his movie – even despite the fact that it’s basically his very first lead role that dazzled Hollywood. Hats off! I kind of feel like lawyer roles in movies predominantly about black people and racism somehow befit him. It’s not just a coincidence, right? (04/12/2014)

It's a good movie with a strong case and great acting performances, although I still don't understand how it's possible to kill two people and walk out of the courtroom as innocent, or rather without punishment. It rather made me reflect on the concept of justice, at least in the American system, where it's not about justice per se, but simply about the case, about popularity, about reputation... I don't know... just anything but justice. How are we supposed to understand it? (06/09/2016)

McConaughey was a good actor even when he was young, but he just didn’t want to. Schumacher in good form, a myriad of stars (Jack Bauer as the head of the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan!), who maintain the tension inside the viewer for two and a half hours until the unexpectedly classic end. Grisham came up with a great idea revolving around racial hatred, Goldsman interpreted it wonderfully for the silver screen. A classic about a lawyer that matures with age. (12/25/2014)