Schumacher Does Justice to Grisham Novel in 'A Time to Kill'

directed by Joel Schumacher starring Matthew McConaughey at area theaters

In "A Time to Kill," director Joel Schumacher brings us a solid, slightly above-average film version of the popular John Grisham novel. Emerging unscathed, Grisham's blood-lust plot acquires illustration through film more than illumination: the actors have occasion to shine, but often we feel the textbook provocation of the story itself doing much of the work.

Set in sweltering Mississippi--the glistening people look as if they shower with Vaseline--the story is simple, yet stirring: rednecks rape a black girl; the girl's father, Carl Lee (Samuel L. Jackson), retaliates with murder; he goes on trial in a racially volatile atmosphere. Enter his idealistic young lawyer, Jake (Matthew McConaughey); his mentor, Lucien (Donald Sutherland); the ruthless prosecutor (Kevin Spacey); and a Klan member or two (e.g. Kiefer Sutherland)--the story's ready-made. Sandra Bullock weaves her way through the story as Jake's indispensable assistant.

So Schumacher paints by the numbers, but he does it well, guiding the movie along the parallel tracks of escalation (in court, out of court) that the novel handily provides. From the very beginning, following the careening path of the redneck's pick-up truck, we feel it's rolled right off the pages on to the screen. Readers of the book might become bored because of its own decidedly cinematic feel: Ruby-style shooting of suspects, Ku Klux Klan marches against Carl Lee's supporters and the like.

Once things have started, it's just a matter of patiently sitting back for the ride and watching the horror and drama unfold at the film's confident pace. (Indeed, Schumacher recently directed "The Client," another Grisham bestseller.)

The film's flourishes include everything you've seen in the trailers: the ominous reflection of Klan members in a shop window; Spacey's prosecutor Buckley brandishing a bulky gun to make a point; or Samuel L. Jackson's face at any of his many stages of pop-eyed rage. Other touches involve the bathing of a Klan member tete-a-tete in ethereal light or Jake's haggard face in the lined shade of half-open blinds.

The actors ease for the most part into the set, often flat characters that surround the charged plot line, with occasional exceptions. Lawyer Jake, despite death threats or a torched house, persists in defending, against all logic, and McConaughey's boyish good looks and exquisite hair carry him through admirably. Yet it is often more compelling to watch Kiefer Sutherland, a brother of a slain redneck, encountering evil greater than himself during his Klan warm-up meeting, or Chris Cooper (again as a sheriff, markedly different from his "Lone Star" role) grimacing his way through shock and pain.

Samuel L. Jackson fares predictably well, especially when he becomes a partner in strategy about his own case. The ambiguity over himself as a justified vigilante and as a defendant lying about his sanity to escape guilt raises several ticklesome issues.

Sandra Bullock provides a couple of surprises: first, that we don't see her character so much as her top billing would indicate; and second, when we do, we wish we wouldn't. Trying through rushed, distracted delivery to evoke the smart-aleck single-mindedness of her law student character, she rapidly becomes irritating and uninteresting. Not helping is the romantic story line between her character and Jake that fizzles yet remains referred to later on.

But in general, the sure-fire story pulls the movie along: we all wonder how we would react should a crime happen to a loved one and we could do something about it. The film almost slips and falls towards the end, however, with Carl Lee's regrettable explanation and political generalizing about his legal choice.

Because of the story's appeal to gut reasoning, it lends itself well to basic visual motifs, which Schumacher seems to realize. Doors burst open at every turn, Jackson's Car Lee finds himself behind screens or bars before any shooting has happened, and light--red, white, blue--bathes people over the course of the movie. Events in the film's parallel tracks (those related to defense, and those to the prosecution) often occur in discrete chunks, placed side by side for quick, crude comparison. Here come the Klan members; there go Carl Lee's supporters. Or as the movie would have it: T-shirts saying either "Free Carl" or "Fry Carl."

Length might be the film's only major flaw (as, ironically, with the book) since most else is constructed in a standard, unobjectionable way. In fact, as far as remarkable courtroom dramas go, this one ranks probably more favorably on the page than on screen, when one considers the possibilities. "A Time to Kill" offers a steady diet of unchallenging drama for those bloated on other summer fare.