Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2214 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-05-11
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Turkish, Hungarian, Polish, Icelandic, Arabic, Croatian, Czech, Greek
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 143 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
You wouldn't know it by watching the Batman movies they collaborated on, but this smart adaptation of John Grisham's novel proves that director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have some talent when the right project comes along. Schumacher had previously directed Grisham's The Client, and brought equal craft and intelligence to this story about a young Southern attorney (Matthew McConaughey, in his breakthrough role) who defends a black father (Samuel L Jackson) after he kills two men who raped his young daughter. Sandra Bullock plays the passionate law student who serves as McConaughey's legal aide and voice of conscience in the racially charged drama. Added to the star power of the lead roles is a fine supporting cast, including Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd and Oliver Platt. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Special Features
Wide Screen
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailer
Arabic\Czech\English\Greek\Hungarian\Icelandic\Polish\Turkish

Synopsis
In a small southern town in the 1960s, a black man awaits trial for murdering the two rednecks who viciously raped his 10-year-old daughter. A young, idealistic white lawyer takes up the father's defense, and the incendiary case becomes a firestorm of racism and controversy, ripping the town apart. Based on John Grisham's bestselling first novel.

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Film Exposing America's Racism & its Criminal VENGEANCE System.
When a 12 year old black girl is raped, beaten and almost murdered by two racist, redneck pigs, the little girl's father shoots both of them dead whilst they are being taken to trial.

He committed murder, he is as guilty as sin and nobody believes otherwise.

On the contrary in fact, the main question in this film is whether a black man should be allowed to take vengeance against whites.

Indeed, having based the defendant's entire case on the lie that he was 'temporarily insane,' the killer's attorney spells out this fact at the end of the film by asking the jury to imagine the little girl's attack and then asking "NOW IMAGINE SHE'S WHITE."

Throughout the film, the community is divided between the killer's supporters (mostly black) and the racists (including the KKK) who don't deny the right of vengeance, but believe that it should only be reserved for whites. And whilst the defence lawyer applauds the death penalty for drug-dealers and everyone else who he hates, he believes that it shouldn't apply in this case because he sympathises with the killer.

As I watched this film, I couldn't help but remember the cases of OJ Simpson and Tony Martin; a black man who was assumed to be guilty because both of the victims were white, and a murderer who went free after only three years because the victim was a gypsy and a burglar.

Every character in this film aside from Roarke (Sandra Bullock) is either a bigot, a hypocrit or both. And whilst there is a fascinating subplot about the brother's attempt to take revenge by joining the KKK, the film's genius lies in its exposure of the 'I'm Not Racist BUT' brigade.

If you want to see a shocking example of what's wrong with America and the rest of the human race, then I would almost definitely recommend this film. And if you're a Tony Martin supporter, then the whole point of this film will probably go straight over your head.

Should have been better
Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel T. Jackson) is a poor black man in a racially-divided Southern town. When two white men brutally rape his daughter, he decides to kill them and he does - in front of witnesses. The hot-shot DA (Kevin Spacey) is almost guaranteed a murder conviction, and novice attorney Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) decides to defend Carl Lee.

This movie is so full of top-notch actors I expected to be swept up in the story and moved by it, but I wasn't; many of the actors are wasted and I kept wondering if it would ever end. Although Sandra Bullock gets top billing, she doesn't become involved in the film until an hour and fifteen minutes in, and then, she's in and out and never really clicks. The story should have focused on Jackson's character, but McConaughey is the star; he's perfect as a young Atticus Finch-type and definitely the best part of the movie. Spacey is mesmerizing as always in his off-beat way, but his part is a one-dimensional bad guy. The wonderful Chris Cooper is wasted in a bit part, as are Donald and Keifer Sutherland and Ashley Judd. Oliver Platt is just annoying as Jake's buffoonish buddy.

It's way too slow-moving as every nuance of courtroom protocol is tediously explored, while the rampant racial hatred of the town could have been an exciting movie all by itself. The trial's outcome is never really in doubt, but still it's a surprising verdict. The movie should have had fewer characters and subplots and let us connect more with Carl Lee and his family, instead of focusing on the handsome lawyer. I imagine this Grisham story worked better as a novel than a film.

Good Grisham Adaptation
This movie based on the book with the same title, is about a trial about a man who shot some people because his daughter was raped, and the KKK is coming in, as the trial goes on. This is a very powerful drama, and a decent cast as well, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer Sutherland, Matthew McConaughey, and Ashley Judd. Very great and dramatic acting, directed by Joel Schumacher, the man who brought Falling Down,Batman & Robin,Batman Forever,Phone Booth,The Lost Boys St. Elmo's Fire and many others. The scenes at trial were very realistic and convincing and the beginning of the film was perhaps the most disturbing in this movie, and the scene with the KKK coming in was also disturbing. A must see for those who have read the book, I believe they have captured the feel of it very accurately. Watch it.