I will be discussing the movie, “A Time To Kill”, staring the incredible acting of Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson, and Kevin Spacey. This film was based in the South, Mississippi to be exact, this drama is a perfect example of the way things used to be, and hopefully is an example of the way things are not at this time in our currant reality.
This movie starts out on a hot summer day down a dusty road in the small town of Canton Mississippi. First we see a jacked up yellow Chevy with two young white men driving carelessly swerving down the road, sending the dust flying. While this is happening there is a small girl, ten years in age, doing some grocery shopping for her family at the local store in Canton, MS. She walks out the door as the two men walk in. This little girl, who we later learn is named Tanya, is on foot back to her house in the country and cannot get away from what is about to happen to her. The two men in the yellow Chevy slow as they see the little girl and decide they are going to have some fun. They throw a full can of beer at the girl and instantly knock her to the ground, causing her to drop the groceries she had just purchased. They removed her cloths and raped her, tied her up, and all we are left with was the sight of her bloody legs and feet in the back of the truck. The little girls dad, played by Samuel L Jackson, Carl Lee Hailey works for a local saw mill and his work was interrupted that day to be told that his little girl had been hurt by two young white men. He was, as you could imagine, devastated. The first thing he could think of was to go to the lawyer in town that he could most trust, Jake Birgance (Matthew McConaughey). He was the lawyer that defended his brother a couple years back and won the case. He wanted to share with Jake what he had on his mind about this terrible accident. He went to Mr. Birgance and told him he was considering doing something on his own to justify what has happened to his daughter. Jake Birgance did not believe Carl Lee would do anything drastic so he ignored Carl’s visit to him that day. The day came of the court hearing of the two young men. All the townspeople, black and white alike, crowded into the court house. In the midst of it all, the two young men were being escorted by policy officers up the stairs to the court room but where stopped cold when a gun shot brought them both down, killing them. Shots fired also injured a deputy unintentionally. These shots were fired by Carl Lee Hailey, the father of little Tanya. This act by Carl Lee resulted in the police arresting him for the murder of two human beings. Carl Lee kissed his family and went willingly with the police to the station, then to his cell. He knew know that he would need the help of lawyer Jake Birgance. While Jake was happy to help Carl Lee, defending this black man has made a lot of white towns people very angry. This soon arises the local Ku Klux Klan. The first action taken by the Klan was to burn a cross in front of Jake Birgance’s yard, sending the first message that it is not a good idea to defend a black man. Things got dangerous enough with the KKK that Mr. Birgance’s wife and daughter had to go away to stay with family until everything slows down. In the midst of all of this, Carl Lee’s family went to church the first Sunday little Tanya was able, and was greeted warmly by the Reverend and congregation. The reverend asked people to give money to help the family while Carl Lee is held up in jail. The reverend had alterior motives, however, believing that Carl Lee needs to be represented by someone better and this money was actually being raised to pay for the new lawyer. When Carl Lee and Jake Birgance are confronted with the idea of new representation, the reverend does not quite get what he wants. The money raised ends up going towards where it should, the Hailey family, and Mr. Birgance continues to be Carl Lee’s lawyer. The day comes of the final trial for Mr. Carl Lee Hailey, outside the courthouse there is a congregation of people yelling, “Let Carl Lee walk”, over and over again. The KKK also together chanting the opposite, an army tank seperating the two very different groups of people, to stop any violence that may occur. Inside, the defence team led be Birgance, presented thier case. The opposing tried their best to make the jury see that Carl Lee took the law into his own hands, illegally, by murdering those two young men. The closing statements were what made the case, Mr. Jake Birgance asked that the jury close their eyes and take a moment to listen to his story. The story of a young girl who was on her way back from the grocery store and was picked up by two men, raped, beaten, tied up, and thrown into a creek. His closing scentance to the jury made up of white folks was, “Do you see that girl?” “Now imagine she is white.” The life of Carl Lee is now in the juries hands.
The story line of this movie was very well done, one thing that helped set the scene of this movie was the costume design. This movie was set in the South, Carl Lee Hailey was a low class man who worked for the local saw mill, dressed in dirty overalls and suspenders. He lives in a house that is of dull colors and his front yard is not covered with green grass, making it perfectly clear and he lives below middle class in this small town on Mississippi.
Aside from the costume design, nothing would be what it is without the actors. One of my favorite scenes of the movie is when Jake Birgance is giving this closing statement in the courtroom and he talks with so much emotion. There was a point when he had to stop speaking because he was caught up in the tears from telling the story of this little girl, knowing that it could of just as easily been his own daughter. He potrayed the part so well, staying with the case no matter how dangerous things got for him and those around him. Matthew McConaughey did an amazing job with this part.
I thought this movie was very well done. I love the message it sent to the audience that the justice system will never be fair because we are the justice, we as people will never see things the same. We truly have to seek the truth with our hearts because that is where we are most honest. I would recommend this movie to any and all.