'90s Nostalgia--Matthew McConaughey's Big Breakout Role

In the first of my new Classic Movie Rentals Recommendation Series, I review A Time to Kill (1996).

If you have some time to kill, go and rent A Time to Kill, based on John Grisham's first novel, which was rejected by a bevy of publishers and only dusted off again after he became a success with later novels. It, and the movie, were worth the wait.

A Time to Kill, as other Grisham stories, is set in the Deep South, this time targeting the issue of race relations and asking the pointed question, ‘Can an African-American man who has murdered two white men receive a fair trial, or even a jury of his peers?' Of course, it's not all so simple. The two dead white men were violent scum to begin with and show no remorse for their actions. Although they committed the first crime, the rape and attempted murder of the African-American man's little girl, the issue for debate is, can justice prevail in a situation like this? Though vigilanteism is against the law, who among us would not entertain the thought of meting out our own punishment if it were our loved ones who were victimized?

That's the position taken by defense attorney Jake Brigance, played by Matthew McConaughey in his first big role. He is incessantly driven by the specter of such a heinous crime befalling his own wife or little daughter, not by money (what a concept!) which his client, Carl Lee Haley, doesn't have. His perseverance is admirable in the face of death threats from the Ku Klux Klan, and of the very real possibility that his budding law career could go up in flames quicker than the cross burned in his front yard.

McConaughey had a lot of advance publicity to live up to, but he carries the load well with his down-home Southern charisma and natural ability. And he is surrounded by good supporting players here-Kevin Spacey is remarkable as the self-assured prosecutor aiming for career-boosting headlines in a case he knows he can't lose. The large cast also includes Sandra Bullock as an ambitious law student who likes to flirt; Oliver Platt, a sex-starved divorce lawyer who provides plenty of comic moments so necessary to this film; Donald Sutherland, a brilliant but alcoholic disbarred attorney who took a wrong turn somewhere; and pretty Ashley Judd as Jake's loving wife. McConaughey and Judd's scenes sizzle, quite possibly because the makeup department overdid the sweat. Or maybe the Brigances should invest in an air conditioner.

At two and a half hours, A Time to Kill is gripping courtroom drama with fine acting, thought-provoking realism sprinkled with many fun-to-watch characters.