John Grisham has always been a reliable source for movies, TV movies and TV miniseries, isn't he? From THE FIRM to THE PELICAN BRIEF to THE CLIENT (both the 1994 movie and the TV show that ran from 1995 to 1996) to this, and then we had THE CHAMBER, THE RAINMAKER, THE GINGERBREAD MAN, A PAINTED HOUSE and RUNAWAY JURY you can imagine how much filmmakers are in love with his novels. And this is just great like all the other adaptations.
When it begins 10 year old Tonya Hailey is returning home after buying some groceries but on her way is abducted, r***d and beaten to a pulp by Billy Ray Cobb and James Willard, who then dump her in a river. Tonya survives and Sheriff Ozzie Walls (Charles Dutton) arrests the two guys. Tonya's father Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) is disgusted by the fact and goes to the county courthouse with a gun shooting various people in a rampage and hurting Dwayne Looney's (Chris Cooper) leg, and soon Carl Lee Hailey is arrested and taken to prison. Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) accepts to defend Carl Lee. At the same time district attorney Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey) takes the case for enhancing his political career, and Brigance will be helped by his political team: law student Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock), friend Harry Rex Vonner (Oliver Platt) and mentor Lucien Wilbanks (Donald Sutherland) who once was a civil rights lawyer.
In the meanwhile Freddie Lee Cobb (Kiefer Sutherland) wants to avenge the death of his brother joyning the Ku Klux Klan for making Carl Lee Hailey's killing necessary. In fact the Ku Klux Klan goes in town but their attack ends in a brawl with the police and the residents. After a long speech and deliberation Carl Lee Hailey is found not guilty of all charges and there is jubilation in the courtroom: some time later Carl Lee is invited to Jake Tyler's house and Carl's daughter play with Jake's daughter, challenging the statement that their kids would have never played together.
While it lasts nearly two hours and 46 minutes (and at some points I wanted that there was a little trimming) it's still worth a watch because of the many talented performers (Jackson, McConaughey, Bullock, Spacey, Sutherland father, Sutherland son, Platt, Dutton, Cooper, Anthony Heald and the late M. Emmet Walsh) and the great performances they each give. Credit has to be given to Joel Schumacher even tho the year later he did the dreadful BATMAN & ROBIN.
Overall, another great Grisham adaptation and one of the best courtroom dramas ever mostly for the cast and their performances. Not to be missed if you hear it's aired on TV.
When it begins 10 year old Tonya Hailey is returning home after buying some groceries but on her way is abducted, r***d and beaten to a pulp by Billy Ray Cobb and James Willard, who then dump her in a river. Tonya survives and Sheriff Ozzie Walls (Charles Dutton) arrests the two guys. Tonya's father Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) is disgusted by the fact and goes to the county courthouse with a gun shooting various people in a rampage and hurting Dwayne Looney's (Chris Cooper) leg, and soon Carl Lee Hailey is arrested and taken to prison. Jake Tyler Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) accepts to defend Carl Lee. At the same time district attorney Rufus Buckley (Kevin Spacey) takes the case for enhancing his political career, and Brigance will be helped by his political team: law student Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock), friend Harry Rex Vonner (Oliver Platt) and mentor Lucien Wilbanks (Donald Sutherland) who once was a civil rights lawyer.
In the meanwhile Freddie Lee Cobb (Kiefer Sutherland) wants to avenge the death of his brother joyning the Ku Klux Klan for making Carl Lee Hailey's killing necessary. In fact the Ku Klux Klan goes in town but their attack ends in a brawl with the police and the residents. After a long speech and deliberation Carl Lee Hailey is found not guilty of all charges and there is jubilation in the courtroom: some time later Carl Lee is invited to Jake Tyler's house and Carl's daughter play with Jake's daughter, challenging the statement that their kids would have never played together.
While it lasts nearly two hours and 46 minutes (and at some points I wanted that there was a little trimming) it's still worth a watch because of the many talented performers (Jackson, McConaughey, Bullock, Spacey, Sutherland father, Sutherland son, Platt, Dutton, Cooper, Anthony Heald and the late M. Emmet Walsh) and the great performances they each give. Credit has to be given to Joel Schumacher even tho the year later he did the dreadful BATMAN & ROBIN.
Overall, another great Grisham adaptation and one of the best courtroom dramas ever mostly for the cast and their performances. Not to be missed if you hear it's aired on TV.