In 1963, civil rights activist Edgar Meyer was gunned down by a white supremacist, who enjoyed judicial and societal immunity, for close to 3 decades, while mouthing off racist stuff in numerous interviews. This is the story of the activist's wife and district attorney's fight to ensure that justice delayed doesn't become justice denied.
The court scenes that last for almost 3 quarters of an hour are the life of the film. However, it invests too much time in the human drama happening in the lawyer's personal life, which could have been either because the script writer was trying to make him look all too human or to cash in on his star appeal. This, unnecessarily, increased the run time and made the impact less powerful.
James Woods has 10-15 minutes of screen time as the septaguenerian racist. But, he chews up the scenery in his Academy Award nominated role. Alec Baldwin is well cast as the earnest attorney.
It has its heart in the right place. And it brings to light a heart breaking travesty of justice.
But, sometimes that is not enough. It could have done well with better editing. It feels too long, with the initial hour almost sinking the more powerful second half.
Recommended for the history buffs.
The court scenes that last for almost 3 quarters of an hour are the life of the film. However, it invests too much time in the human drama happening in the lawyer's personal life, which could have been either because the script writer was trying to make him look all too human or to cash in on his star appeal. This, unnecessarily, increased the run time and made the impact less powerful.
James Woods has 10-15 minutes of screen time as the septaguenerian racist. But, he chews up the scenery in his Academy Award nominated role. Alec Baldwin is well cast as the earnest attorney.
It has its heart in the right place. And it brings to light a heart breaking travesty of justice.
But, sometimes that is not enough. It could have done well with better editing. It feels too long, with the initial hour almost sinking the more powerful second half.
Recommended for the history buffs.