Review of A Time to Kill (1996) by Benjamin G — 22 Apr 2009

Known in part as the movie that announced Matthew McConaughey as a sexy new leading man with unlimited potential, A Time to Kill utterly failed to live up to its hype. But one might argue that McConaughey, who did indeed become a star, still hasn't duplicated the charisma he displays as attorney Jake Brigance in Joel Schumacher's take on the John Grisham novel.

In fact, there are many arguments to be made for this film that haven't previously surfaced. Although it asks viewers to accept a ridiculously sensationalist scenario, the film burns with the kind of passion that damns logic.

McConaughey is a capable leader of the all-star cast, which inhabits a movie that redeems its run-of-the-mill dialogue by going in unexpected directions. Granted, the message about race relations is too pat, and the threats to Brigance's family too much the typical Grisham fodder.

There are also plenty of grossly one-dimensional good guys and villains, and a street fight between the KKK and a group of black protestors that couldn't seem more false. But it's hard to come away from McConaughey's closing arguments unmoved.

To give Schumacher credit, this underdog director actually succeeds in making the viewer care about a bunch of Hollywood hooey.