Review of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) by Joshua H — 24 Jun 2011

The book is a masterpiece and will always be better than the film version, according to a lot of people (I've never read the book), . The first hour of the film was so focused on the children Scout and Jem that I thought the main plot ultimately had something to do with them and their scary adventures around the neighborhood.

But as the film progresses, the plot was revealed to be about Atticus Finch (what a performance from Gregory Peck risking his career to defend a colored man. Sure, at the end the kids had a little to do with the case and their adventures proved worthwhile, but was it worth an hour of screen time for them to play around and ultimately giving us false suspense? Despite its flaws, the film has an amazing cast and it was well-written.

To Kill A Mockingbird raised some important questions: Will you risk your career/life to stand up for something you believe in? Will you defend a man of different color? It ultimately came down to how the book had affected our society back then and how it had impacted us now.

This film version of To Kill A Mockingbird, despite its flaws and age, is still one of the most important pieces in cinema.