The Big Picture
A Time to Kill
is a legal thriller that raises ethical questions about vigilante justice and the American judicial system.
Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey deliver stellar performances in this thought-provoking film.
A Time to Kill
is a relevant and compelling legal drama that’s worth watching for fans of the genre.
The legal thriller is one genre that will never go out of style. From Anatomy of a Murder to Anatomy of a Fall, legal thrillers can make the courtroom feel as exciting as the battlefield, and the popularity of true crime content means there’s plenty of source material to draw from. David E. Kelley’s latest legal thriller series, Presumed Innocent, stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor accused of murdering one of his colleagues. Based on Scott Turow’s 1987 novel of the same name, this is the second time Presumed Innocent has been adapted to the screen, the first of which was the 1990 film starring Harrison Ford. The first two episodes of the Apple TV+ series are now streaming, but if you’re in search of similar legal thrillers, look to Joel Schumacher’s 1996 adaptation of John Grisham’s debut novel A Time to Kill.
As far as book-to-movie adaptations go, John Grisham is to legal thrillers what Stephen King is to horror. The ’90s gave us a collection of Grisham adaptations, including The Pelican Brief, The Firm, The Rainmaker, and, of course, A Time to Kill, which tells a fictional story that could have very well been ripped from the pages of a history book. When a young Black girl is abducted, sexually assaulted, and left for dead by two white men in rural Mississippi, her father, Carl Lee (Samuel L. Jackson), takes matters into his own hands and kills her attackers himself. He calls upon a white lawyer, Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey), to defend him as he faces the death penalty and an all-white jury deciding his fate. A Time to Kill is part of a bygone genre – the Deep South legal thriller – and is a thought-provoking film that holds a mirror up to the racism entrenched in the American legal system. It presents ethical questions about the death penalty and vigilante justice and features standout performances from Jackson and McConaughey.
A Time to Kill
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.
Release Date July 24, 1996
Runtime 149 minutes
Writers John Grisham , Akiva Goldsman
Tagline Experience a time you’ll never forget.
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What Is ‘A Time to Kill’ About?
A Time to Kill follows Mississippi lawyer Jake Brigance, who agrees to defend Carl Lee Hailey, a Black man facing the death penalty. When Carl Lee finds out the two white men who violently beat and raped his ten-year-old daughter Tonya (Rae’Ven Larrymore Kelly) might walk free, he opens fire in the county courthouse, killing both men and unintentionally injuring Deputy Dwayne Looney (Chris Cooper). The prosecution, led by district attorney Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey), seeks the death penalty for Carl Lee, who faces almost certain death when Jake’s request to change the venue to a more racially diverse county is denied by Judge Omar Noose (Patrick McGoohan), meaning Carl Lee will face an all-white jury. With help from friend Harry Rex Vonner (Oliver Platt), mentor and former civil rights lawyer Lucien Wilbanks (Donald Sutherland), and law student Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock), Jake takes on this seemingly impossible task. As the case earns national media attention, the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan starts threatening Jake and his family, burning a cross in his yard and leaving Jake torn between doing the right thing and protecting his loved ones, including his young daughter.
According to Grisham, his 1989 novel A Time to Kill was based on a similarly gruesome case from 1984, in which two sisters – aged 12 and 16 – were beaten and raped by an intruder in their home. Grisham, who graduated from law school in 1981, had no clients at the time and decided to attend the trial himself. Listening to the younger sister’s harrowing testimony deeply affected him and made him wonder how a jury would react to a father who killed his daughter’s rapist, inspiring him to write A Time to Kill.
The Ethical Questions at the Heart of ‘A Time to Kill’
A Time to Kill asks viewers to put themselves in both Carl Lee and Jake’s shoes — Carl Lee as a grieving father facing a racist legal system and almost certain death, and Jake as a lawyer (and father) caught between doing the right thing and protecting his family from the repercussions he faces by defending Carl Lee. This case tests the limits of empathy, specifically the ability of an all-white jury to empathize with the plight of a young Black girl. What if it was your daughter who survived such a brutal attack only for the perpetrators to walk away scot-free? In Jake’s closing argument, he asks the jury to close their eyes as he recounts the details of Tonya’s brutal assault, leaving jurors, spectators, and Jake himself, in tears. He ends the speech with one pivotal statement, “Now imagine she’s white.”
One of Carl Lee’s final conversations with Jake before the trial gets straight to the heart of the philosophical questions posed by A Time to Kill, and gives Jake exactly what he needs to win the case. Carl Lee tells Jake that no matter how much he means well and wants to help, he is just like the rest of the white people on the jury, unable to see him as simply a fellow man, but a Black man. Carl Lee will always be seen as the other because of his race, which is why he needs Jake to be his mouthpiece. The white jurors may not be able to identify with him, but they will identify with Jake. It’s a stunning monologue that remains relevant today and is the standout moment of Jackson’s performance in A Time to Kill.
‘A Time to Kill’ Features Stellar Performances from Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey
As far as legal thrillers and courtroom dramas go, A Time to Kill may not measure up to some of the best of the ’90s, like A Few Good Men or Philadelphia. but what really makes the film worth a watch is the performances, particularly those of Jackson and McConaughey. The great Samuel L. Jackson, who shockingly has just one Academy Award nomination to his name for his iconic role as Jules in Pulp Fiction, gives an incredibly raw performance as Carl Lee, a grieving father who turns to vigilante justice after his daughter is subject to unfathomable cruelty. Carl Lee’s anger and despair are written all over Jackson’s face, and even the most pacifistic of viewers will be able to empathize with him, though they may disagree with his actions. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, and in a 2023 profile with Vulture, the actor revealed that some of the best moments of his performance were cut out of the film, preventing him from getting an Oscar because they hadn’t set out to make Jackson the star.
Aside from Jackson, it’s McConaughey who makes the film tick. McConaughey and Jackson are electric on screen together, and he has undeniable chemistry with Sandra Bullock, who plays a charming minor role as Ellen, a young law student who volunteers to help with Carl Lee’s case. He brings his typical McConaughey swagger to the role of Jake Brigance, but the vulnerability he’s able to convey in the third act is what makes his performance truly great. In the aforementioned closing argument, McConaughey commands the screen during Jake’s last-ditch effort to reach the jury on an emotional level. He remains composed while he describes Tonya’s horrific assault in grueling detail, but so many different emotions come through on McConaughey’s face, building and building until his voice breaks.
Though the case at the center of the film is fictional, the events and themes presented in A Time to Kill are eternally relevant. It may not be the most memorable Grisham adaptation, but A Time to Kill is a thought-provoking film that’s definitely worth a watch for fans of legal thrillers.
A Time to Kill is available to rent on Amazon in the US.
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