Helen Kelly

My deepest appreciation to Mathew McConnaughey, Kiefer Sutherland and Charles Dutton for taking their roles to heart and fully investing in their characters. It would seem they read the book. If anyone else in this uniformly expressionless cast had read the book before going in front of the camera - anyone, especially but not only Donald Sutherland and the lazy director who cherry picked scenes of violence, made a flash card sequence out of a powerful important story and completely missed the point - I’d eat my hat. And what a waste. If you want to experience the spectacular accomplishment that is A Time to Kill, listen to the audiobook read by the gifted and beloved narrator Michael Beck. You will find language rich with the detail and dialogue of fully alive people. For a time, you will live in Clanton, MIssissippi. Mr. Beck is every character and every character is distinctive, complex, torn by racist views and idealism and vigilantes and honor and uncertain about where to draw the lines. We face ourselves as they face their dilemmas. Mr Grisham should have won a literary prize for A Time To Kill. And, most certainly there should be an Oscar for performance of narration. Mr Beck would win it hands down.

This is a documentary taking you right to the heart of desperation homeless people face. As such, it is heartbreaking, and important. But it tries to be a feature film, and fails. The heartbeat is faint from the outset, plagued by interminable interludes of pensive music and mournful moments, and then, without even a moment of consciousness, the patient dies.