Synopsis
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
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Cast
- Matthew McConaugheyJake Brigance
- Sandra BullockEllen Roark
- Samuel L. JacksonCarl Lee Hailey
- Kevin SpaceyRufus Buckley
- Ashley JuddCarla Brigance
- Donald SutherlandLucien Wilbanks
- Oliver PlattHarry Rex Vonner
- Charles S. DuttonOzzie Walls
- Brenda FrickerEthel Twitty
- Kiefer SutherlandFreddie Lee Cobb
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
If the film doesn't add up to a cogent legal argument, neither does it have trouble delivering 2 hours and 20 minutes' worth of sturdy, highly charged drama. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
A Time to Kill, based on the first novel by John Grisham, is a skillfully constructed morality play that pushes all the right buttons and arrives at all the right conclusions. - 75
ReelViews
Then again, it's worth noting that this Hollywood production is actually saying something, rather than just churning out eye-popping special effects while relying on a regurgitated plot. - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Joel Schumacher, the director of "Falling Down," "The Client" and "Batman Forever," has a strong feel for this kind of glossy pop entertainment and a way of integrating social issues without sacrificing narrative drive. - 67
Austin Chronicle
To its credit, A Time to Kill allows the debate to snake through the entire movie, engagingly pitting characters and speeches against each other, creating a dramatic forum for ethical debate uncommon in most commercial American films. - 50
Rolling Stone
Audiences expecting more Bullock or more weighty import from A Time to Kill will have to adjust expectations and settle for the kick of a good yarn. - 50
San Francisco Examiner
Director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman seem incapable of emphasizing what's important and relegating the rest to secondary status. - 30
Washington Post
There's no question the movie's entertaining. But the blatantly schematic depictions of black and white, liberal and hawk, and other tiresome dichotomies turn A Time to Kill into the moral equivalent of a cockfight.
