A Time to Kill Reviews
June 14, 2009
A likable -- maybe even lovable -- movie.
June 14, 2009
What craven offal!
June 14, 2009
A gritty, intense and engaging courtroom drama.
April 1, 2009
Only a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman could make things worse--and lo and behold, speak of the devil and Old Scratch appears.
Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/4
October 8, 2008
Although it has its share of implausibilities, A Time To Kill is generally the most satisfying of the John Grisham screen adaptations to date.
August 13, 2006
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.
Full Review
February 9, 2006
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.
July 4, 2004
Looks aren't enough. In the lead, McConaughey isn't there.
Read More | Original Score: 2/5
June 23, 2004
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.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
January 2, 2004
The best Grisham to hit the screen yet.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
July 23, 2003
Dumbed down debate on the death penalty.
| Original Score: 2/5
May 20, 2003
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 14, 2003
Insight into black/white relations is superficial -- disappointing when you consider that the moral of the story is supposed to be how large a role race plays in the execution of justice.
| Original Score: 2/4
April 23, 2003
Gripping suspense in this southern set drama. Sandra Bullock is oddly matched to McConaughey who lights the fire. Unfortunately, Samuel L. Jackson waits in the wings.
| Original Score: 4/5
March 16, 2003
This may be a case where you have to read the book to appreciate the film, but if that's true, the film hasn't done its job.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/4
February 14, 2003
Nothing more than an entry in Matthew McConaughey's filmography.
Full Review| Original Score: 2/10
August 27, 2002
Proves that imaginative lawyers can sometimes tease justice out of her hiding places.
June 18, 2002
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...
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4
June 5, 2002
There are no surprises here except for the indecipherable motivations and exacting length of two hours and twenty minutes.
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5
June 6, 2001
McConaughey, 26, is dynamite in a performance of smarts, sexiness, scrappy humor and unmistakable star sizzle.