A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Ahh, the courtroom drama. Or, in Joel Schumacher's A Time To Kill's case, the fired up courtroom scorcher. A massive team of actors gather together here to tell the hot blooded tale of one African American man on trial for a brutal murder that is seen by many as justified, but to the prosecutor working the case is just another statistic that will help him vault over the pole to his next suit & tie victory. It's based on a book by John Grisham, and Schumacher also adapted his story The Client, with admirable but less energetic results. This is one my favourite courtroom films, mainly due to the feverish energy of the American South that thrums beneath events like a heart ready to beat out of its chest. Every character has a mad glint in their eye and an epic film of sweat drenching them, and it's easy to see why when you examine the high stakes, hot tempered powder keg of a trial they are involved in. Samuel L. Jackson is brilliant as Carl Lee, a simple African man accused of mercilessly gunning down two cracker asses (one of which is a grimy Kiefer Sutherland). These two punks are responsible for the rape and prolonged brutalization of Carl's twelve year old daughter. A righteous knee jerk reaction for anyone, right? Try convincing a jury in the South of that. Conflict flares up faster than the fire adorning the crosses left on lawns by the arriving KKK, and soon the pressure is on to find the perfect prosecutor and defender for his case. Young upstart Jake Brigans (Matthew McConaughey) is picked to defend, facing off against a seasoned and annoyingly smug prick played by Kevin Spacey. Jake is blessed with the ingenuity and intuition of a law clerk (Sandra Bullock, excellent) and the sagely patronage of a veteran lawman played by a salty Donald Sutherland. It's a tricky case though, with tempers and racial tension running high and a near constant air of danger for people on both sides of the table. Lee stands by his choice and boils in righteous fury that doesn't quell the hurt once it's simmered down, something which Jackson achingly imparts. Jake is swept up in the spectacle of it all, until his relationship with his wife (Ashley Judd) and finally his very life are at stake. Bullock brings the sanity of the big city to this backwater set melodrama and gives some of the best work of the film. Morality is tentatively explored, even though it's clear as day that Lee was completely justified in his actions, and the outcome of the trial should reflect this. That sentiment is right there with the film's title. But does it? You'll have to watch and see. The epic cast lineup also includes work from Oliver Platt, Brenda Fricker, Kurtwood Smith, Charles S. Dutton, Patrick McGoohan, Nicky Katt, Beth Grant, Anthony Heald, Octavia Spencer, M. Emmett Walsh and a moving Chris Cooper in a small role. It's a long film, but it sustains its energy and pace for the duration, with McConaughey's refusal to buck the horse and throw the trial a key asset in letting us feel the hurt of a community torn inside out in one act of flagrant evil. It's up to him and his crew not to right that wrong (realism dictates that it's too late), but to give a modicum of solace to those further endangered by the very same evil. A winner.

Released in 1996 and based on John Grisham's book, "A Time to Kill" chronicles events in Canton, Mississippi when an honest black man (Samuel L. Jackson) takes the law into his own hands after a couple of beer-guzzling white rednecks brutally rape his 10 year-old daughter. Matthew McConaughey plays his lawyer, Sandra Bullock his uber-liberal assistant, Ashley Judd his wife and Oliver Platt his friend. Donald Sutherland in on hand as an alcoholic defrocked lawyer while Kevin Spacey plays the staunch prosecuting attorney. Patrick McGoohan appears as the dubious judge while Kiefer Sutherland is on hand as a friend of the rednecks who gets the Klan involved. "A Time to Kill" is essentially a mishmash of 1988's "Mississippi Burning" and 1992's "A few Good Men." Although it's not excellent like the former film it's about on par with the latter and you can't beat the all-star cast. The weakness is the first act where events come across a bit too contrived, smelling of political correctness rather than reality (more on this below). But the story pulls you in during the second act. And the viewer's sympathies are definitely with Jackson's character. A timeline for the events is never provided so it's assumed that they take place during the mid-90s when the movie was released (if not, they'd have to take place around 1989 when the book was published). This presents a believability problem for the rednecks' rampage in a rural black community during the opening. Would several strong black men really tolerate the disrespectful antics of these white scumbags in their own communities in the mid-90s or late 80s? Then there's the problem of the entire scenario being one-sided: The ultra-evil characters are white men, but all blacks are virtuous. I'm white and was held up in the deep south in 1990 (the general timeline of events in the movie) by three young black guys with guns, who stole all my money & camera equipment and then took off with my car (thankfully, they let me live and my car was found abandoned shortly later). You'll see none of this in "A Time to Kill." Young white dudes are the problem. Poppycock. I'm not saying there isn't white trash out there, but how about some evenhandedness more akin to reality? At least 2004's "Crash" had the integrity to show the awful truth right out of the gate.Despite my criticisms, this is a worthy crime thriller if you appreciate the aforementioned movies. The movie runs 149 minutes and was shot in Canton & Jackson, Mississippi; Tampa, Florida; and London, Ontario.GRADE: B

"In conditions where everything is stacked against the majority, 'playing fair' amounts to accepting a position of disadvantage. In fighting for fairness, one doesn't have 'play fair'. It's the classic problem of Liberals - taking the moral high ground and leaving it at that. Power doesn't play by those rules. If you are looking to change the rules, why start by abiding by them?" - Mark Fisher Based on a novel by John Grisham, and directed by Joel Schumacher, "A Time to Kill" opens with a pair of stereotypical racists driving a pick-up truck into a poor African-American neighbourhood. The duo then assault and rape a young African-American girl. Later the girl's father, Carl Lee (Samuel L Jackson), shoots the culprits dead on the steps of a courthouse. These murders are justifiable, Lee's attorney (Matthew McConaughey) argues, because "the law is racist", would have pardoned the killers and would not have delivered justice to a black father. As a representative from the NAACP says, "Carl Lee's freeing for the killing of two white men would do more for black people in this land than anything since civil-rights integration." On one hand, "A Time to Kill" is your typical Liberal Deep South Lawyer Movie. Our heroes are righteous, upstanding and stand up for marginalised black folk. On the other hand, the film argues passionately for vigilantism (a trait usually associated with "conservative" films). For Grisham, vigilantism is fine when executed by the oppressed. Encapsulating these themes are the film's opening and closing sequences; Schumacher opens with racists spitting in the face of an African-American man and ends with an African-American woman spitting in the face of a white racist. What was once condemned, is finally embraced."A Time to Kill's" philosophical gymnastics and racial inversions are interesting. But they don't make up for the rest of Schumacher's picture. This is ultimately a cartoonish portrait of the Deep South. And like most films "about racism", "A Time to Kill" trades entirely in racial caricatures, with its goofy, "churchgoing black folk", "gospel choirs" and "mad rednecks". Sandra Bullock co-stars as a law student who exists only to get lynched on a tree and prove McConaughey's fidelity to his wife (Ashley Judd).7/10 – Worth one viewing.

This is the sort of film that I am certain in 30 or 40 years will be considered a classic. Even if you ignore the fact that it is a terrific cast full of familiar faces and stars that went onto to be superstars, the story and the concept and the writing and the ethical and moral dilemma that comes out of this will be talked about for decades. Grisham created one of the best legal thrillers ever and who better because the man practically created the genre. Translating it to the big screen would be no small feat but I think they went a step beyond and captured the book and the characters very nearly flawlessly. The film runs a little long, I'm not sure given that it is technically a "thriller" moreso than a drama that it should feel like it drags just a little bit but I can't fault them for making sure the characters and idea is fully developed. The best thing to come out of A Time To Kill is the dialogue. The script for this film written by Akiva Goldsman is brilliant and masterful. He has done some great screenplays (we'll forgive him Batman and Robin and Lost In Space) but this is truly one of his best. Fortunately for him he also had some incredible actors delivering the lines.Matthew McConaughey is perfect as the struggling lawyer Jake Brigance. No one can play down to earth better than McConaughey and his charisma is brilliant on screen. He also plays a darn good lawyer. His closing speech is one of my favourite scenes in film. Samuel L Jackson perfectly plays the father who murders his daughter's rapists in cold blood. Jackson is emotional and moving in his role and the chemistry between he and McConaughey is very good. There are such incredible actors in this film and the one criticism I can give the film is that I feel like once you move away from the main cast, some of the supporting cast doesn't get the screen time they could have or deserve. Kevin Spacey is good but underused as the cocky DA Rufus Buckley and Sandra Bullock is feisty and fun and a very strong female lead but underused in her role. Oliver Platt who was always good for the sarcastic, fun but serious looking supporting character does exactly that in this film. Donald Sutherland is also terrific as Brigance's mentor but I wanted to see more of him. Kiefer Sutherland couldn't be better playing the smarmy and evil looking brother of one of the dead rapists. Ashley Judd is sort of flash in the pan as McConaughey's wife.This was Joel Schumacher at his best. He was a great director at one time but has slipped in recent years. This was a great example of the sort of vision he once had. He captures the racial tension of the deep south perfectly. You can just feel the air of tumultuous politics. Despite being a courtroom battle, the film is more about the racial battle happening outside the courtroom. The case and situations gives rise to a brand of the KKK and puts Brigance's life in danger and those in his life around him in danger as well. The opening scenes of the film are literally hard to watch, one of the most disturbing rape scenes in film and yet not because its graphically done or shown in poor taste but rather you feel and sense the danger and horrible act that is being done to a defenceless little girl. A Time To Kill is terrific. Its more art than entertainment because of the concepts behind it but if you love legal drama, thrillers, courtroom battles or just a very good film then this is one to see. 8.5/10