A Time to Kill (1996)

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

Director:

Joel Schumacher

Writers:

John Grisham (novel), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Jake Tyler Brigance
Sandra Bullock	...	Ellen Roark
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Carl Lee Hailey
Kevin Spacey	...	D.A. Rufus Buckley
Oliver Platt	...	Harry Rex Vonner
Charles S. Dutton	...	Sheriff Ozzie Walls (as Charles Dutton)
Brenda Fricker	...	Ethel Twitty
Donald Sutherland	...	Lucien Wilbanks
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Freddie Lee Cobb
Patrick McGoohan	...	Judge Omar Noose
Ashley Judd	...	Carla Brigance
Tonea Stewart	...	Gwen Hailey
Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly	...	Tonya Hailey (as RaéVen Larrymore Kelly)
Darrin Mitchell	...	Skip Hailey
LaConte McGrew	...	Slim Hailey

Storyline

In Canton, Mississippi, 10-year-old Tonya Hailey is viciously brutalized by two white racist rednecks -- James Louis "Pete" Willard and Billy Ray Cobb. Almost immediately after Tonya is found and rushed to a hospital, Pete and Billy Ray are found at a roadside bar, where they had been bragging about what they did to Tonya. Tonya's understandably distraught and enraged father, Carl Lee Hailey, remembers a case from a year ago, when four white men raped an African-American girl in a nearby town, and got acquitted. Carl is determined to not let that happen in this case. While deputy Dwayne Powell Looney is escorting Pete and Billy Ray up a flight of stairs to a court room, Carl emerges from the building's basement with an assault rifle, and he kills Pete and Billy Ray for what they did to Tonya. Carl is later arrested at his house by African-American sheriff Ozzie Walls, and Carl is scheduled to be placed on trial. Despite the efforts of the NAACP and local African-American leaders to ...

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Plot Keywords:

mississippi | african american | trial | law | revenge | 

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Taglines:

A lawyer and his assistant fighting to save a father on trial for murder. A time to question what they believe. A time to doubt what they trust. And no time for mistakes.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some graphic language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 July 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tiempo de matar

Filming Locations:

Canton, Mississippi, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

JPY 130,188,000 (Japan) (27 December 1996)

Gross:

JPY 419,223,800 (Japan) (24 January 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regency Enterprises, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

149 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Among the numerous actors considered for the lead were Alec Baldwin, Brad Pitt, Bill Paxton, Ralph Fiennes and Aidan Quinn.

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Goofs

When Jake (McConaughey) finds the bomb in the briefcase, he pulls the clock timer off and throws it. Then it explodes. But when the shot goes back to the briefcase, the dynamite is still there.

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Quotes

Lucien Wilbanks: It ain't easy saving the world, even one case at a time.

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Connections

References Black Sunday (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Ritz"
Written by Richard Paddison
Performed by Jesse Johnson
Courtesy of Dinosaur Entertainment

User Reviews

The best movie I had seen in ten years! One of the ten best I've ever seen!

This movie dealt with such a deplorable subject.. such a sickening act, without so much as one single gratuitously violent scene in the whole perfectly realised masterpiece.

It's a chilling, thought-provoking, hard-hitting piece that's taut, absorbing, and impeccably well-paced.

There are jaw-dropping performances by numerous top-flight actors here, not a-one letting the ball drop even once. Not one actor's time or talents were wasted in this extremely well thought-out project.. not one actor wasted a cent of the money we paid to see it.

Matthew McConaughey's "Jake Brigance" was an incredibly lucky shot of an acting debut that he took and ran with like the wind, turning in an amazing, heart-stopping, truly star-making performance, which may prove to be the crowning achievement of his entire career when all is said and done.. It will be a treacherous climb to try and top it, certainly.

Class act Donald Sutherland is superbly cast in a quiet, and profound role, as "Jake"'s, {now no longer practicing}, professor, a perfect fit, this role, for a man of such rare eloquence~ There is a sizzling sub-story going on between "Jake", a devoted family man, and Sandra Bullock's character that could not have been tighter, steamier, nor more well written and played out.

I recommend this movie to anyone who believes in justice, who has a child, or only knows one.

You want cheap, tawdry, sleazy, violent 'entertainment'? There's not one thing here for you~

Killing cannot be considered "right" by any means; but sometimes it's just not as simple as "THOU SHALT NOT KILL".

So many of us say, "I would kill for my children, {or other loved one's}!".. but would we? ..Would we be in the "right"?