Do you want to see ‘A Time to Kill’?

A Time to Kill (1996)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 51
Fresh: 34 | Rotten: 17

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 5

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 88,981

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Movie Info

Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) takes the law into his own hands after the legal system fails to adequately punish the men who brutally raped and beat his daughter, leaving her for dead. Normally, a distraught father could count on some judicial sympathy in those circumstances. Unfortunately, Carl and his daughter are black, and the assailants are white, and all the events take place in the South. Indeed, so inflammatory is the situation, that the local KKK (led by Kiefer Sutherland) becomes

R, 2 hr. 27 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Joel Schumacher

Written By: Akiva Goldsman

In Theaters: Jul 24, 1996 Wide

On DVD: Aug 22, 1997

Warner Home Video

A Time to Kill Trailer & Photos

Cast

Matthew McConaughey
Jake Brigance
Samuel L. Jackson
Carl Lee Hailey
Sandra Bullock
Ellen Roark
Kevin Spacey
Rufus Buckley
Brenda Fricker
Ethel Twitty
Oliver Platt
Harry Rex Vonner
Chris Cooper
Deputy Looney
John Diehl
Tim Nunley
Charles S. Dutton
Sheriff Ozzie Walls
Beth Grant
Cora Cobb
Jonathan Hadary
Norman Reinfield
Anthony Heald
Dr. Rodeheaver
Doug Hutchison
Pete Willard
Ashley Judd
Carla Brigance
Nicky Katt
Billy Ray Cobb
Terry Loughlin
Jury Foreman
Benjamin Mouton
KKK militant
Joe Seneca
Rev. Isaiah Street
Kurtwood Smith
Stump Sisson
Tonea Stewart
Gwen Hailey
Donald Sutherland
Lucien Wilbanks
Kiefer Sutherland
Freddie Cobb
Graham Timbes
Male Juror
M. Emmet Walsh
Defense Psychologist
Patrick McGoohan
Judge Omar Noose
Mark W. Johnson
Hastings
Andy Stahl
Juror
Byron Jennings
Brent Musgrove
Greg Lauren
Buckley's Asst.
Alexandra Kyle
Hannah
Tim Parati
Winston
Rae'Ven Larrymore Kelly
Tonya Hailey
Matthew Mc Conaughey

Critic Reviews for A Time to Kill

All Critics (53) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (17) | DVD (4)

A likable -- maybe even lovable -- movie.

June 14, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Although it has its share of implausibilities, A Time To Kill is generally the most satisfying of the John Grisham screen adaptations to date.

October 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Todd McCarthy

Variety

Top Critic

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.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

Untrained as an actor, with only three minor roles to his credit, McConaughey holds the screen against Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Kevin Spacey, and completely justifies the buzz surrounding his role...

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comment

Edward Guthmann

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

McConaughey, 26, is dynamite in a performance of smarts, sexiness, scrappy humor and unmistakable star sizzle.

June 6, 2001 Comment (1)

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

A skillfully constructed morality play that pushes all the right buttons and arrives at all the right conclusions.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

What craven offal!

June 14, 2009 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

A gritty, intense and engaging courtroom drama.

June 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Only a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman could make things worse--and lo and behold, speak of the devil and Old Scratch appears.

April 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central

| Comment

Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

With Joel Schumacher's tasteful but second-rate-Sidney-Lumet direction and Akiva Goldsman's nuts-and-bolts script, these boys have created a surprisingly stirring indictment of racism.

August 13, 2006 Full Review | Comment

Brandon Judell

Entertainment Asylum

Justice may be blind, but rarely have courtroom dramas presumed quite so heavily on cultural myopia as this heinous version of John Grisham's first novel.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

Looks aren't enough. In the lead, McConaughey isn't there.

July 4, 2004 Comment

Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS) Source: F5 (Wichita, KS)

McConaughey nails with such laconic grace that some critics are comparing him to the young Paul Newman and to Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.

June 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

| Comment

Judith Egerton

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

The best Grisham to hit the screen yet.

January 2, 2004 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Dumbed down debate on the death penalty.

July 23, 2003 Comment

Alex Sandell

Juicy Cerebellum

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for A Time to Kill

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I still believe this is one of the best grisham film adaptaions.

March 22, 2007

John Manard

Super Reviewer

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Charles S. Dutton, Oliver Platt, Brenda Fricker, Donald Sutherland, Ashley Judd, Tonea Stewart, John Diehl, Chris Cooper, Nicky Katt, Kurtwood Smith, Beth Grant, Joe Seneca, Anthony Heald, Alexandra Kyle, Kiefer Sutherland Director: Joel

June 8, 2009

♥˩ƳИИ ƜѲѲƉƧ♥

Super Reviewer

A Time to Kill Quotes

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1. Carl Lee Hailey: Yes they deserve to die and I hope they burn in Hell!
– Submitted by Harrison C (8 months ago)

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